It was little surprise when the Indian Arrows I-League team once again formed the nucleus of the country's pre-Olympic squad. Seventeen of the under-21 team which finished a creditable ninth in the just-concluded I-League, were among the 25 probables for the second round of pre-Olympic qualifiers against Qatar.
India will face Qatar in Doha on June 10 in the first leg, with the return leg scheduled for Pune on June 23. India qualified for the second round after beat Myanmar 3-2 on aggregate in the first round. Among the probables, Jagroop Singh, Gurpreet Singh Sandhu, Ravi Kumar are the three goalkeepers from the Arrows, while defenders Inderpreet Singh, Raju Eknath Gaikwad, Deepak Devrani, R Vishal Kumar, Abhishek Das, Lalrozama Fenai and midfielders Jewel Raja Sheikh, Shilton Sydney D'Silva, Ongnam Milan Singh, Jibon Singh, Lalrindika Ralte were also selected in the probables.
Coach Desmod Bulpin, who is also in charge of Indian Arrows formed last year to prepare the national team for the 2018 World Cup, is also in charge of the pre-Olympics squad. Indian Arrows striker Jeje Lalpekhlua, Manandeep Singh, Jagtar Singh will be spearheading the attack.
AIFF relaunches Vision India
The All India Football Federation (AIFF) on Friday re-launched the Vision India Programme by shifting its focus from states to cities/districts after the initiative, launched by the Asian Football Confederation in 2004, met with failures in Delhi, Kerala and Goa. The executive committee of the AIFF ratified the re-launch programme for Mumbai, Pune and Chandigarh under the new format.
The Probables:
Goalkeepers: Laxmikant Kattimani, Jagroop Singh, Gurpreet Singh Sandhu, Ravi Kumar.
Defenders: Inderpreet Singh, Raju Eknath Gaikwad, Deepak Devrani, R Vishal Kumar, Abhishek Das, Lalrozama Fenai, Arnab Mondal, Saba Saleel.
Midfielders: Jewel Raja Sheikh, Shilton Sydney D'Silva, Oinam Milan Singh, Kh Jibon Singh, Lalrindika Ralte, Gurjinder Kumar, Snehasis Chakraborthy, Anthony Barbosa, Zakir Mundampara.
Forwards: Jeje Lalpekhlua, Manandeep Singh, Jagtar Singh, CS Sabeeth.
