India national football team head coach Stephen Constantine has announced the 38-man preliminary squad for the upcoming second round of the 2018 World Cup Asian qualifiers.
The Blues Tigers, who recorded a 2-0 (aggregate) win over Nepal in the first round of the AFC 2018 World Cup qualifiers, have been drawn in Group D, where they will now face Iran, Oman, Turkmenistan and Guam in the second round of the qualifying stages.
The 38-man preliminary squad will be trimmed to 26 players after the end of the 2014/15 Hero I-League campaign on 31 May.
The final 26-man squad along with the coaching staff will then be reporting to the training camp in Bangalore on 3 June, where they will be practicing for their first qualifying fixture against Oman on 11 June at the Shree Kanteerava Stadium
"We have selected a group of Players that have impressed for their respective Clubs in the last two-three months," Constantine told AIFF's official website. "The list would be brought down to 26 for the preparatory Camp."
"We are on the platform where we wanted to be. We are now competing against the best Teams in Asia and it's the stage for the best Teams to compete against each other," he added.
Here is the complete list of the 38-man preliminary squad announced by Constantine:
Goalkeepers: Subrata Paul (Salgaocar SC), Arindam Bhattacharya (Kalyani Bharat FC), Gurpreet Singh Sandhu (Stabaek FC), Sanjiban Ghosh (Mumbai FC).
Defenders: Rino Anto, Lalchhuanmawia (both Bengaluru FC), Reagan Singh, Lalhmangaihsanga (both Royal Wahingdoh FC), Pritam Kotal, Dhanachandra Singh (McDowell Mohun Bagan), Robert Lalthlamuana, Arnab Mondal, Gurwinder Singh (all Kingfisher East Bengal), Sandesh Jhingan (Sporting Clube de Goa), Augustin Fernandes (Salgaocar SC), Aiborlang Khongjee (Shillong Lajong FC).
Midfielders: Cavin Lobo, Md. Rafique (Kingfisher East Bengal), Eugenson Lyngdoh, CK Vineeth (both Bengaluru FC), Godwin Franco, Jackichand Singh, Saityasen Singh (all Royal Wahingdoh FC), Sehnaj Singh (McDowell Mohun Bagan), Dhanapal Ganesh (Pune FC), Mandar Rao Dessai, Francis Fernandes, Germanpreet Singh (all Dempo SC), Harmanjot Singh Khabra (Kingfisher East Bengal), Rowlin Borges (Sporting Clube de Goa) Bikash Jairu (Salgaocar SC).
Forwards: Sunil Chhetri, Robin Singh (Both Bengaluru FC), Holicharan Narzary (Dempo SC), Jeje Lalpekhlua (McDowell Mohun Bagan), Thongkhosien Haokip (Pune FC), Sumit Passi (Sporting Clube de Goa), Lalchhawnkima (Royal Wahingdoh FC).
