Naushad Moosa’s dreams of making history by reaching the finals have suffered a big blow, as the Indian squad, traveling to Malaysia to take part in the under-23 Asian Cup qualifiers, are likely to miss talented footballers from Mohun Bagan Super Giants! The talented youngsters of Bagan, such as Suhail Bhat, Dippendu Biswas, and Tekcham Abhishek Singh are likely to miss out.
The selected footballers from NorthEast United FC are expected to join the national squad after their Durand Cup Final, which takes place on 23rd August against Diamond Harbor FC.
However, AIFF are still trying to convince the ISL winner to release the players before the official FIFA window, scheduled to start on 1st September. With Mohun Bagan kicking off their ACL 2 matches on 16th September the club raised concerns over the fitness issues of players.
Head Coach Naushad Moosa had to start the preparatory camp in Bangalore without the presence of 16 key footballers, who are from Punjab FC, Jamshedpur, Mohun Bagan, NorthEast United, and FC Goa.
Only 10 footballers who participated in the friendly matches against Kyrgyz Republic and Tajikistan had reported to the camp. Moosa was forced to call upon 15 trialists to get the number to 25 for a full squad to start training.
Among the absentees were FC Goa’s Ayush Chhetri, Sanatomba Singh, and Alan Saji, who joined the squad right after Goa’s AFC Champions League 2 preliminary round tie against Al Seeb on 13th August.
The 16 of the initial players who were unavailable for the camp were mostly players who would have walked straight into the playing XI or the match-day squad. Despite bringing in new footballers for the selection trials the absence of such players for the preparatory camp left Moosa worried.
On the positive note, players from Punjab FC and even Jamshedpur FC have joined the squad.
