AFC Asian Cup Qualifiers: Stephen Constantine names 11 U-23 players in 28-man squad for Macau tie

New Delhi: National football coach Stephen Constantine has named 11 players, who represented India in the AFC U-23 Qualifiers in Doha, in the preliminary squad of 28 for the forthcoming AFC Asian Cup Qualifier against Macau scheduled to be held in Bengaluru on 11 October. The squad will assemble in Mumbai on 28 September with practice scheduled to kick-off the next day. [caption id=“attachment_3951573” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  File image of Indian football coach Stephen Constantine. Image courtesy: Twitter @IndianFootball[/caption] India, who have won all their three matches so far, sit pretty on the top of Group A with nine points from three matches and a win against Macau will seal their berth at the AFC Asian Cup UAE 2019. Constantine’s men stay unbeaten in the last 11 matches out of which it has won 10 (including the un-official match against Bhutan), thus, in the process, creating an all-time Indian record of winning nine consecutive international games, excluding the un-official match against Bhutan. Constantine, however, is not willing to read too much into the statistics. “Every match starts afresh. The results of our previous matches are all history and will have no bearing when we kick-off on October 11 at home against Macau,” he stated. “I am looking forward to starting training with the boys and need to work hard to keep alive our chances of earning a ticket to the AFC Asian Cup 2019,” he added. List of 28 probables: Goalkeepers: Subrata Paul, Gurpreet Singh Sandhu, Amrinder Singh, Vishal Kaith. Defenders: Pritam Kotal, Lalruatthara, Nishu Kumar, Sandesh Jhingan, Anas Edathodika, Salam Ranjan Singh,Sarthak Golui, Jerry Lalrinzuala, Narayan Das. Midfielders: Jackichand Singh, Udanta Singh, Nikhil Poojary, Eugeneson Lyngdoh, Rowllin Borges, Md Rafique, Anirudh Thapa, Germanpreet Singh, Halicharan Narzary. Forwards: Balwant Singh, Alen Deory, Jeje Lalpekhlua, Sunil Chhetri, Hitesh Sharma, CK Vineeth.