The All Indian Football Federation (AIFF) on Friday announced the 26-member squad for the Merdeka Cup 2023 tournament in Malaysia.
Merdeka Cup 2023 will be played in Malaysia from October 13-17. India have participated in this event twice in their history and finished as runners-up on both occasions (1959 and 1964).
The Merdeka Cup 2023 will be a four-team affair with hosts Malaysia, Palestine and Tajikistan are the other teams. To be played on a knockout basis, India will take on hosts Malaysia in the second semi-final on October 13. Palestine and Tajikistan will cross swords in the first semi-final earlier on the same day.
October 17 has been kept as the day for the final and also for the third placed match, which will be played between the two losing semi-finalists.
The final list of 23 players, who will travel to Malaysia, will be announced in the second week of October.
India squad for Merdeka Cup 2023
Goalkeepers: Gurpreet Singh Sandhu, Amrinder Singh, Vishal Kaith and Dheeraj Singh.
Defenders: Nikhil Poojary, Roshan Singh, Sandesh Jhingan, Anwar Ali, Mehtab Singh, Lalchungnunga, Akash Mishra and Subhasish Bose.
Midfielders: Jeakson Singh, Suresh Singh, Anirudh Thapa, Rohit Kumar, Sahal Abdul Samad, Brandon Fernandes, Lallianzuala Chhangte, Udanta Singh, Vikram Pratap Singh, Mahesh Singh Naorem, Liston Colaco and Nandhakumar Sekar.
Forwards: Sunil Chhetri and Manvir Singh.
Head Coach: Igor Stimac