Intercontinental Cup 2019: India announce 35-man preliminary squad; Anas Edathodika comes out of retirement

The All Indian Football Federation (AIFF) has announced a 35-member preliminary squad for the upcoming Hero Intercontinental Cup which is scheduled to kick-off on July 7 at the Trans Stadia in Ahmedabad. The most striking news is that defender Anas Edathodika has come out of retirement and has been included in the squad for the camp. He had previously announced his retirement from international football following India’s 2019 AFC Asian Cup campaign.

The defending champions cum hosts will face Tajikistan in the opening fixture. Sunil Chhteri and Co. will be up against DPR Korea on July 13 followed by their last group fixture against Syria on July 16. The final of the Intercontinental Cup will be held on July 18.

The 35-man squad will be in camp at the Mumbai Football Arena fron June 25 onwards. Nandhakumar Sekar, Germanpreet Singh, Sumeet Passi are among the players ignored for this camp, from those who were included in the camp for the King's Cup.

The 35-member squad for the 2019 Hero Intercontinental Cup:

Goalkeepers: Gurpreet Singh Sandhu, Vishal Kaith, Amrinder Singh, Kamaljit Singh

Defenders: Rahul Bheke, Pritam Kotal, Nishu Kumar, Anas Edathodika, Salam Ranjan Singh, Sandesh Jhingan, Adil Khan, Anwar Ali, Sarthak Golui, Narender, Subhasish Bose

Midfielders: Udanta Singh, Jackichand Singh, Nikhil Poojari, Anirudh Thapa, Raynier Fernandes, Pronay Halder, Rowllin Borges, Vinit Rai, Sahal Abdul, Amarjit Singh, Brandon Fernandes, Lallianzuala Chhangte, Mandar Rao Desai, Ashique Kuruniyan, Soosairaj Michael

Forwards: Sunil Chhetri, Balwant Singh, Jobby Justin, Farukh Choudhary, Manvir Singh

India recently participated in the 2019 King’s Cup which was held in Thailand. Having lost 1-3 to Curacao in their opening fixture, the Blue Tigers put up a spirited show against the hosts winning with a 1-0 margin and finishing as the third best team in the tournament. This was India’s second win over Thailand this year, having won the first during a 4-1 rout at the 2019 AFC Asian Cup earlier this year.

Moreover, the win last week was the first triumph under the supervision of India’s new coach Igor Stimac. A lot of positives came out of the fixture, the team played with a lot of new faces who impressed on the field. With quality opponents like North Korea and Syria featuring in the upcoming tournament, the Croatian will get another opportunity to check the strengths and weaknesses of his squad.