Wim Koevermans names 23 players squad for Palestine friendly in Kochi

Team India coach Wim Koevermans has named his 23 players squad for the international friendly against Palestine on Wednesday, February 6 to be played at the Nehru Stadium in Kochi.

Koevermans, under whom India had won the 2012 Nehru Cup, maintained it's a very important match for India. "We need to assess ourselves. We need more such matches," Wim told Aiff Media.

Captain Sunil Chhetri, who plays for Sporting Clube de Portugal 'B', added, "Unless you play International Friendlies you cannot gauge where you stand. We stay grateful to AIFF for arranging the match."

"The passion for the sport in the Kerala stays unparallel and we expect a full house cheering for us against Palestine," Sunil further stated.

Koevermans has been travelling across India to watch as many I-League matches as possible to name his squad for the friendly. Interestingly seasoned Sandip Nandy makes a comeback in the squad as does Lalkamal Bhowmick, while 'Player of Indian origin' Izumi Arata gets his first call-up as does winger C.K. Vineeth.

Meanwhile Koevermans has named 14 stand-byes in-case any of his 20 players called-up get injured and can be replaced ahead of the friendly.

The squad will assemble in Kochi on Sunday, February 3 ahead of the match after their I-League engagements.


INDIA

Goalkeepers
Sandip Nandy (Churchill Brothers SC), Subrata Pal (Prayag United SC), Karanjit Singh (Salgaocar FC)

Defenders
Nirmal Chettri (Mohun Bagan AC), Raju Eknath Gaikwad (East Bengal Club), Denzil Franco (Churchill Brothers SC), Souvik Ghosh (Pailan Arrows), Syed Rahim Nabi (Mohun Bagan AC), Gouramangi Moirangthem Singh (Prayag United SC), Gurjinder Kumar Singh (Pune FC)

Midfielders
Izumi Arata (Pune FC), Lalkamal Bhowmick (Prayag United SC), Francis Fernandes (Salgaocar SC), Alwyn George (Pailan Arrows), Mehtab Hossain (East Bengal Club), Clifford Miranda (Dempo SC), Anthony Pereira (Dempo SC), Jewel Raja Sheikh (Mohun Bagan AC), Lenny Rodrigues (Churchill Brothers SC), C.K. Vineeth (Prayag United SC)

Forwards
Sunil Chhetri (Sporting Clube de Portugal 'B'), Manandeep Singh (East Bengal Club), Sushil Kumar Singh (Shillong Lajong FC)

Stand-Byes
Subhasish Roy Chowdhury (Dempo SC), L. Dhanachandra Singh (Prayag United SC), Sandesh Jhingan (United Sikkim FC), Arnab Mondal (East Bengal Club), Gurwinder Singh (East Bengal Club), Shylo Malswam Tulunga (Prayag United SC), Rocus Lamare (Salgaocar FC), Lalrindika Ralte (East Bengal Club), Peter Carvalho (Dempo SC), W. Tomba Singh (Churchill Brothers SC), Asif K. (Prayag United SC), Joaquim Abranches (Dempo SC), Robin Singh (East Bengal Club), Jeje Lalpekhlua (Pune FC),

Officials
Wim Koevermans (Head Coach), Savio Medeira (Assistant Coach), Marcus Pacheco (Goalkeeping Coach)