Indian Super League: Indian senior men's team have begun their preparations for the friendly match against Vietnam on October 12. The side assembled in Kolkata on Saturday and held a training session on Sunday morning. With the Indian Super League season underway, Manolo Marquez has reasons to believe his boys are in better physical shape now than in the September window.
"Obviously, physically we are better than when we were in pre-season. There are still some players who are performing well but they are not here. We're still in the beginning of the season. I don't want to talk much about the ones who are not here. If you speak with 20 people, all of them will give you a different list. We called these players because we think they are the best to play against Vietnam," said Marquez to AIFF's media team.
The Indian squad has a couple of new names like left-back Aakash Sangwan and 21-year-old midfielder Lalrinliana Hnamte, who have earned their first national team call-ups. Farukh Choudhary has made his way back in the squad after three years. The forward debuted in 2018 and has represented India 14 times, scoring once against Nepal in a friendly in 2021. The same year, Farukh was part of the India squad that won the SAFF Championship in Maldives.