Defender Sandeep Jinghan and striker Jeje Lalpekhlua on Thursday returned to the fold for the 18-day national football camp ahead of India’s FIFA 2022 World Cup qualifier against Qatar in Bhubaneswar.
India’s World Cup qualifier against Qatar will be played on March 26.
Jhingan had been sidelined because of a knee injury which he sustained six months ago, while Jeje is returning from a knee injury he suffered in June last year.
Lalengmawia, Jerry Mawihmingthanga, Jeakson Singh, Liston Colaco, Pratik Chowdhary, Shubham Sarangi, Rafique Ali Sardar, Prabhsukhan Gill, Sumit Rathi, Seriton Fernandes, Edwin Sydney Vanspaul are among the ones who have been handed their first call-up to the senior team.
A total of 23 player have been called up in the first phase of the training camp in Bhubaneswar on March 9 before 20 other players, from four ISL semi-finalist teams join on March 16.
“Time is very crucial for us. We have planned to utilise the maximum time possible, so we want to see as many players as possible before the Qatar match,” India’s head coach Igor Stimac said.
“As some players won’t be able to join the camp because of their club commitments before the 16th, we’ll use this time to assess other players.”
“Sandesh (Jhingan) and Jeje (Lalpekhlua) have been longstanding servers of Indian national team and I strongly believe in their abilities. I have been updated about their current medical status and we’ll monitor them closely in Bhubaneswar too,” he added.
Jeakson Singh, who etched his name in Indian football history following his thunderous header against Colombia in the FIFA U17 World Cup at the JLN Stadium in October 2017, has also earned his maiden call-up for the senior national team camp.
“It’s a dream-come-true for me to get a call-up from senior team camp. Scoring the goal against Colombia is something that I shall always cherish but now I want to prove myself here,” Jeakson said.
“Sharing the dressing room with ones who I’ve always looked up to, is going to be a remarkable experience for me.”
List of the 23 players who have been called up on March 9:
Goalkeepers: Amrinder Singh, Subhasish Roy Chowdhury, Md Rafique Ali Sardar.
Defenders: Pratik Prabhakar Chowdhary, Shubham Sarangi, Subhasish Bose, Narender, Adil Khan, Sandesh Jhingan.
Midfielders: Rowllin Borges, Amarjit Singh, Jeakson Singh, Nandhakumar Sekar, Lalengmawia, Vinit Rai, Raynier Fernandes, Nikhil Poojary, Mawihmingthanga, Halicharan Narzary, Sahal Abdul Samad.
Forwards: Farukh Choudhary, Jeje Lalpekhlua, Liston Colaco.
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