THE BLOG BY CPD FOOTBALL | The World of Indian football and beyond by Chris Punnakkattu Daniel

Indian national team arrives in Dubai

Team India - Savio Medeira and players

Team India - Savio Medeira and players

The Indian national team has arrived in Dubai for their AFC Challeng Cup 2012 preparation camp.

The Indian contingent of 30 players and eight officials left Delhi on Air-India flight AI995 at 20.40 IST and reached the Arab city at 23.26 local time. Team India will progress to the team hotel after the airport immigration.

India coach Savio Medeira lauded the All India Footbal Federation (AIFF) for getting the tour arranged. “Its always important to prepare yourself and the team before such a big tournament. Specially going to Dubai where there would be good infrastructure and facility. Hope the camp would be very helpful in our preparation,” Savio told.

Savio also expressed confidence in the players selected for the camp and quipped, “The squad selected for the camp are very talented, hope they all would perform to their potential.”

The Indian team will face Oman (Februay 23 | Muscat) and Azerbaijan (February 27 | Dubai) in preparation for the AFC Challeng Cup 2012 in Nepal. Talking about the two matches, Savio expressed his happiness and added: “It would add to their experience and preparation for the Challenge Cup.”

Meanwhile, India star striker Sunil Chhetri is still unsure of his participation in the two friendly matches. Sunil is still recovering from an injury he suffered during the SAFF Championship 2011 final. The Mohun Bagan player is eager to play at least one of the two matches, but his main focus is to get fully fit for the major competition coming up next month.

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INDIA PROBABLES

Goalkeepers
Arindam Bhattacharya (Churchill Brothers SC), Subhasish Roy Chowdhury (Dempo SC), Karanjit Singh (Salgaocar SC), Gurpreet Singh Sandhu (East Bengal Club)

Defenders
Anwar Ali (Mohun Bagan AC), Nirmal Chettri (East Bengal Club), Kingshuk Debnath (Mohun Bagan AC), Raju Eknath Gaikwad (East Bengal Club), Arnab Mondal (Prayag United SC), Syed Rahim Nabi (Mohun Bagan AC), Sameer Subash Naik (Dempo SC), Gouramangi Moirangthem Singh (Churchill Brothers SC), Gurjinder Kumar Singh (Pune FC)

Midfielders
Francis Fernandes (Salgaocar SC), Lester Mark Fernandez (Pune FC), Adil Ahmed Khan (Sporting Clube de Goa), Rocus Lamare (Salgaocar SC), Manish Maithani (Mohun Bagan AC), Clifford Reyes Miranda (Dempo SC), Anthony Pereira (Dempo SC), Jewel Raja Sheikh (Mohun Bagan AC), Lalrindika Ralte (Churchill Brothers SC), Lenny Rodrigues (Churchill Brothers SC), Baldeep Singh (Pune FC), Reisangmi Vashum (East Bengal Club)

Forwards
Joaquim Abranches (Dempo SC), Sunil Chhetri (Mohun Bagan AC), C.S. Sabeeth (Pailan Arrows), Manandeep Singh (Air India), Sushil Kumar Singh (Shillong Lajong FC)

Officials
Savio Medeira (Chief Coach), Mariano Dias (Assistant Coach), Marcus Pacheco (Goalkeeping Coach), Pradip Datta (Physical Trainer), Sandeep Kumar (Doctor), Gigy George (Physio), Liaqat Ali (Masseur), Mandar Tamhane (Manager)

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