Team India: Savio Medeira new coach, 27 Probables named

The All India Football Federation has now officially appointed former assistant coach Savio Medeira as the Head Coach of the Indian national football team until May 2012.

Talking about the appointment AIFF General Secretary Kushal Das said, "Savio has the experience of working with the National Team for three-and-a-half-years. His experience will serve us good."

A delighted Savio Medeira said, "It's a big honour to be appointed the Head Coach of my country. It's a huge responsibility and I'm looking forward to it. It's a new challenge for me."

When asked about the upcoming double header against Malaysia, Savio said, "There is not enough time for the team to prepare. I hope the players would rise to the occasion."

The two matches against the southeast Asian nation are slated to be played in Guwahati (November 13) and Kolkata (November 16).

For the two friendlies 27 probables have been called-up, so new head coach Savio Medeira can have a look at the players ahead of the SAFF Cup. While Subrata Pal is out due to an injury players like Anwar and Mehrajuddin Wadoo return to Team India besides Francis Fernandes getting his first call-up.


INDIA

Goalkeepers
Subhashish Roy Chowdhury (Dempo SC), Gurpreet Singh Sandhu (East Bengal Club), Karanjit Singh (Salgaocar SC)

Defenders
Anwar (Mohun Bagan AC), Raju Eknath Gaikwad (East Bengal Club), Mahesh Gawli (Dempo SC), Sameer Subash Naik (Dempo SC), Debabrata Roy (Dempo SC), Gouramangi Moirangthem Singh (Churchill Brothers SC), Jaspal Singh Parmar (Salgaocar SC)

Midfielders
Steven Benedic Dias (Churchill Brothers SC), Francis Fernandes (Salgaocar SC), Mehtab Hossain (East Bengal Club), Rocus Lamare (Salgaocar SC), Climax Lawrence (Dempo SC), Clifford Rayes Miranda (Dempo SC), Syed Rahim Nabi (Mohun Bagan AC), Anthony Pereira (Dempo SC), Jewel Raja Sheikh (Mohun Bagan AC), Lalrindika Ralte (Churchill Brothers SC), Baldeep Singh (Pune FC), Mehrajuddin Wadoo (Salgaocar SC)

Forwards
Joaquim Abranches (Dempo SC), Sunil Chhetri (Mohun Bagan AC), Jeje Lalpekhlua (Pune FC), Baljit Singh Sahni (East Bengal Club), Chongtham Sushil Kumar Singh (United Sikkim FC)

Officials
Savio Medeira (Chief Coach), Antonio Marcus Pacheco (Assistant & Goalkeeping Coach), Mandar Tamhane (Manager), Sandeep Kumar (Doctor), Liaqat Ali (Masseur)