Indian Under-22 squad leaves for Dubai camp

A 28-member Indian Under-22 squad for the forthcoming AFC U-22 Asian Championship qualifiers leaves for an eight-day training camp in Dubai tonight. The team being coached by Australian Arthur Papas would be training at the Al Wasl Training Ground in Dubai. In addition, the Indian squad would also be playing two practice matches during their stay in Dubai including one against DNATA Club.

The team leaves for the Omani capital Muscat on June 21. India have been clubbed with the United Arab Emirates, Oman, Iraq, Lebanon and Turkmenistan in Group A of the qualifiers.

Papas, who has been in charge of the squad since June 1, admitted it's a tough group. "They are quality teams. But since we have trained together since the first day of the month, there are signs of improvement," he maintained.

"But all of us, including me need to be patient," the Australian added.

During their training in Delhi, the Indian squad played two friendly matches against a select Delhi XI and won both of them with a 4-0 scoreline. In the AFC U-22 Asian Championship qualifiers, India play their first match against Lebanon on June 23 at the Al Seeb Sports Stadium in Muscat. The squad would be pruned down to 23 before the squad leaves Dubai for the Championship.

The following boys in Ricardo Cardozo (Tata Football Academy), Mohammed Irfan Khan (Tata Football Academy), Rowllin Borges (Sporting Clube de Goa), Malswamfela (Pailan Arrows) and Pankaj Sona (Tata Football Academy) have been left out of the 28 players squad.


INDIA U-22 Selection Trialists

Goalkeepers
Soram Poirei Angamba (Shillong Lajong FC), Ravi Kumar (Pailan Arrows), Gurpreet Singh Sandhu (East Bengal Club)

Defenders
Abhishek Das (East Bengal Club), Narayan Das (Tata Football Academy), Deepak Devrani (Pailan Arrows), Souvik Ghosh (Pailan Arrows), Pritam Kotal (Pailan Arrows), Vishal Kumar (Pailan Arrows), Prathmesh Maulingkar (Pailan Arrows), Ramandeep Singh (Air India), Chingkhei Meetei Yumnam (Tata Football Academy)

Midfielders
Romeo Fernandes (Dempo SC), Ganeshan (Pune FC), Pronoy Haldar (Pailan Arrows), David Lalbiakzara (Pune FC), Shyjumon (Chirag United Kerala), Deepak Prakash (Hindustan Aeronautics Limited), Lalrindika Ralte (Churchill Brothers SC), Tirthankar Sarkar (Pailan Arrows), Bikramjit Singh (Sr) (Pailan Arrows), Ongnam Milan Singh (Pailan Arrows), Simranjit Singh (Tata Football Academy)

Forwards
Alwin George (Pailan Arrows), Jeje Lalpekhlua (Pune FC), Rajinder Kumar (Pailan Arrows), Holicharan Narzary (Pailan Arrows), Manandeep Singh (Air India)

Officials
Arthur Papas (Head Coach)