Team India arrives in Delhi ahead of Bayern Munich match

The first contingent of Indian international footballers arrived in the capital on Saturday morning with the rest of the players awaited from Kolkata after playing the local league derby this afternoon. The team will face German giants FC Bayern Munich in the Audi Football Summit exhibition match.

The young strike duo of Jeje and Sabeeth, both of whom have been together for the Under-23 Olympic qualifiers, just couldn't wait to get on the field against the Bayern Munich side.

"This is a life-time opportunity for us," Jeje said. "International scheduling in football doesn’t permit one to get on the same field against such renowned clubs. But here we are playing against Bayern Munich," Jeje who turned 21 on Saturday, expressed.

"All of them are international stars. The entire footballing fraternity will be keeping a close eye on the match," Jeje added.

"We speak of Exposure Tours every alternate minute. Can any Tour get bigger than this?" Sabeeth, putting on his boots, quipped. "I'm lucky to be in the squad for this match. It's for us to learn, the more the better for us," Sabeeth joined in.

The duo hasn't yet played together with legend Baichung Bhutia and that makes it all the more significant for them. "Baichung has been the most deadly Indian striker I have seen," Sabeeth quipped. "His commitment and his reflexes are a lesson for any young player."

Jeje added, "It's fortunate that I get to play with Baichung. It's unfortunate that I won't ever get a chance to play with him again. He is such a great player."

"Baichung was such an aggressive striker. He always had the ability to put the rival defence under pressure," Sabeeth maintained.

Gouramangi Singh, the 2010 AIFF Player-of-the-Year, feels it's an honour for him to be playing in Baichung's farewell match. "I have always looked upto him! To be a part of his Farewell Match is indeed an honour for me," Mangi opined.

Team India will be having their first practice session at the Ambedkar Stadium on Sunday morning.


INDIA

Goalkeepers
Karanjit Singh (Salgaocar SC), Subhasish Roy Chowdhury (Dempo SC), Felix D'Souza (Churchill Brothers SC)

Defenders
Jaspal Singh Parmar (Salgaocar SC), Samir Naik (Dempo SC), Gouramangi Moirangthem Singh (Churchill Brothers SC), Govin Moirangthem Singh (United Sikkim FC), Nirmal Chetri (East Bengal Club), Syed Rahim Nabi (Mohun Bagan AC), Adil Khan (Sporting Clube de Goa), Gurjinder Singh (Pune FC)

Midfielders
Reisangmi Vashum (East Bengal Club), Jewel Raja Sheikh (Mohun Bagan AC), Climax Lawrence (Dempo SC), Rakesh Masih (Mohun Bagan AC), Baldeep Singh (Pune FC), Clifford Miranda (Dempo SC), Lalrindika Ralte (Churchill Brothers SC), Rocus Lamare (Salgaocar SC)

Forwards
Jeje Lalpekhlua (Pune FC), Baichung Bhutia (United Sikkim FC), Sushil Kumar Singh (United Sikkim FC), C.S. Sabeeth (Pailan Arrows)



More information about the match and where to buy tickets online are available at www.audifootballsummit.in

The official Twitter account of the Audi Football Summit can be found under www.twitter.com/AudiFS2012 .