By IANS
New Delhi : Chief soccer coach Bob Houghton has decided to hold a special camp for 21 junior footballers, who would be challenging their experienced seniors for a place in the national team this season, it was announced by the All India Football Federation (AIFF) here Monday.
The special camp for 21 juniors will start in Goa from March 26, while another set of 24 regular national players will join the camp April 5. The camp is being organized to select the team for the South Asian Football Federation (SAFF) Cup and the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) Challenge Cup.
At a core committee meeting of the AIFF recently, the chief coach stressed on the need for a special camp to find new faces. These footballers, he said, need to stay longer to adjust to his coaching system.
Like last season, Houghton is again planning to take the national team for a tour cum preparatory camp in Portugal. While the SAFF Cup will be played in Sri Lanka in June, while the AFC Challenge Cup will be held either in Delhi or Hyderabad in August.
List of 21 players for pre-national camp: Goalkeepers: Arindam Bhattacharya (Churchill Brothers), Subhashish Roy Choudhury (Mahindra United), Karanjit Singh (JCT); Defenders: Robert Lalthlamyana (Churchill Brothers), Nirmal Chetri (Air India), Govin Mojranginem (Churchill Brothers), Noaba Singh (Churchill Brothers), Rakesh Masih (TFA), Denzil Franco (Sporting Clube), Valeraino Rebello (Dempo), Mohun Raj (Mohun Bagan), Kattimani (Mumbai FC), Rocus Lamare (Salgaocar) ,Vashum Reisungmi (Churchill Brothers), Baldip Singh (JCT ),Chandam Chitrasen (Churchill Brothers),S James Singh (Viva Kerala); Forwards: Khangebam Thoi Singh (Mahindra United), C.S. Sabeet (Karnataka) ,Sushil Singh (Mahindra United) and Tariff Ahmed (Mahindra United)
List of 24 players for national camp: Goalkeepers: Subrata Paul (East Bengal), Sandip Nandi (Mahindra United); Defenders: I. Surkumar Singh (Mohun Bagan), Mahesh Gawli (Dempo), Gouramangi Singh (Churchill Brothers), Deepak Mondal (Mohun Bagan), N.S. Manju (Mohun Bagan), Anwar (JCT), Syed Rahim Nabi (East Bengal), Debabrata Roy (East Bengal), Sameer Naik (Dempo); Midfielders: Steven Dias (Mahindra United), Climax Lawrence (Dempo), N.P. Pradeep (Mahindra United), Clifford Miranda (Dempo), Anthony Pereira (Dempo), Bungo Singh (Pune F.C), Ajayan Krishnan Nair (Mahindra United), Mehrajuddin Waddo (East Bengal), Renedy Singh (JCT); Forwards: Bhaichung Bhutia (Mohun Bagan), Sunil Chetri (JCT), Manjit Singh (Mahindra United), Abhishek Yadav (Mumbai F.C)