New Delhi, Nov 1 (IANS) The All India Football Federation (AIFF) Tuesday officially elevated assistant coach Savio Medeira as the chief coach while announcing a 27-member national squad for the forthcoming international friendlies against Malaysia.
The friendlies are slated for Nov 13 and 16 in Guwahati and Kolkata.
India’s No.1 goalkeeper Subrata Paul has been out of the squad since he is out for three months with a knee injury.
The Pune FC goalkeeper has been fined Rs. 3,36,000 by a Fifa disciplinary committee for his violent conduct during June’s World Cup qualifier against the UAE in Abu Dhabi.
‘Savio has been entrusted with this opportunity considering he has already spend three-and-a-half year with the national team and has a lot of experience in handling the national team,’ said AIFF secretary-general Kushal Das.
Medeira, a former Salgaocar coach, said that he is looking forward to the Malaysian challenge since not much time is left for the two matches.
‘There is not enough time for the team to prepare. It is a tough challenge, which I have taken and would hope that the players would give their best and rise on the occasion,’ the Goan said.
The squad:
Goalkeepers: Gurpreeth Singh Sandhu, Karanjit Singh, Subhashish Roy Chaudhari
Defenders : Raju Eknath Gaikwad, Jaspal, Sameer Naik, Mahesh Gawli, Debabrata Roy, Anwar Ali, Syed Rahim Nabi, Gouramangi Singh
Midfielders : Mehtab Hossain, Baldeep Singh, Rocus Lamhare, Mehrajuddin Wadoo, Francis Fernandes, Climax Lawrence, Anthony Periera, Clifford Reyes Miranda, Jewel Shaik Raja, Steven Benedict Dias, Lalrindika Ralte
Forwards : Baljit Singh Sahni, Je Je, Sushil Singh, Joaquim Abranches, Sunil Chettri
