Long serving midfielder Arata Izumi will lead a 20-member Pune FC squad at the 127th edition of the Durand Cup in Goa.
The third oldest football competition in the world, continues to remain Pune FC’s top-priority season opener and this will be the sixth time Pune FC will figure in the tournament.
Incidentally, the competition was the first National-level meet the team played after coming into existence in 2007.
For Arata, this is the first time he will captain Pune FC in a tournament. The India international gets the opportunity after skipper and defender Anas Edathodika misses out due to a hamstring injury.
Like the previous edition, Pune FC is seeded directly into the quarterfinal group stage and is paired along with Churchill Brothers and a qualifier in Group-IV. Pune FC begins their campaign against Churchill Brothers on Friday, 31st October before facing the qualifier on Tuesday, 4th November at the Raia Sports Complex in Goa.
Going into the tournament after a long preseason, Pune FC will hope to better their best ever performance of reaching the semifinals in the 2011 edition of the competition.
Moreover, having had a dismal run in the 2013 edition, the lads will be eager to put on a good show.
The 20-man squad announced by Coach Karim Bencherifa consists of eleven retained players, eight new signings and an academy graduate.
PUNE FC SQUAD
Goalkeepers
Amrinder Singh, Arup Debnath, Moniruzzaman Ansari
Defenders
Mathew Gonsalves, Zohmingliana Ralte, Luciano Sabrosa, Srikanth Ramu, Salam Ranjan Singh, Raju Yumnam
Midfielders
Dhanpal Ganesh, Arata Izumi (Capt.), Prakash Thorat, Anthony D’Souza, Eric Brown, Mumtaz Akhtar, Fanai Lalrempuia, Ryuji Sueoka
Forwards
Bineesh Balan, Shoaib Syed, Thongkhosiem Haokip