HALF DOZEN U-23 PLAYERS IN SQUAD FOR MACAU GAME

New Delhi: Six Under-23 footballers were on Thursday named in the 24-member squad for India’s Asian Cup qualifier against Macau on September 5. The six featured in India’s Asian Football Confederation U-23 campaign in Doha, Qatar, last month. The squad will depart for Macau from Mumbai on Friday. India are on top of Group A with six points, courtesy consecutive victories against Myanmar and the Kyrgyz Republic. However, national coach Stephen Constantine said there was no reason to underestimate Macau as a team. “Macau will be playing at home and in front of their home crowd. There’s always a marked difference between playing at home and playing an away match and we are aware of the challenge,” Constantine said. The team recently won a trination tournament also involving Mauritius and St Kitts and Nevis in Mumbai, as part of preparation for their qualifier. “The matches provided us the much needed match practice ahead of our challenge against Macau,” said the coach. Squad: Goalkeepers: Gurpreet Singh Sandhu, Subrata Paul, Albino Gomes; Defenders: Pritam Kotal, Lalruatthara, Sandesh Jhingan, Anas Edathodika, Arnab Mondal, Salam Ranjan Singh, Narayan Das, Jerry Lalrinzuala; Midfielders: Udanta Singh, Jackichand Singh, Nikhil Poojary, Eugeneson Lyngdoh, Rowllin Borges, Md. Rafique, Germanpreet Singh, Anirudh Thapa, Holicharan Narzary; Forwards: Jeje Lalpekhlua, Sunil Chhetri, Robin Singh, Balwant Singh.