Indian football team's Asiad camp kicks off

Bangalore, July 1 (IANS) The Indian football team's preparatory camp for the Incheon Asian Games under national coach Wim Koevermans kicks off here Wednesday.

The Asian Games will be played from Sep 19 to Oct 4.

The camp starts a preparatory process of two and a half months. The team would also get a two-week exposure tour to Europe besides another tour in the Far East in mid-August. In addition, there are two Under-23 matches against Pakistan Aug 17 and 20 here as part of a friendly series.

Koevermans feels he would be able to "work on team work and football fitness" during the period.

"It's good to have the boys for two and a half months. We will be able to build on team work and football fitness as well. We will also be able to work in the manner and style we want to play," he said.

The squad will play a number of friendlies against clubs in Europe and the Far East.

"This camp is no different from the senior team's preparatory camp. All the boys play in the I-League and it's a nice opportunity for me to learn and understand how they train and perform. At the same time, it's also an opportunity for them as there is a good pool who could make their way into the senior national team," Koevermans stated.

"Exposure tours stay pertinent as we build up for big events. We want to play outside India as we won't get that good an opposition in India. The boys need to play against different styles, learn about strong opposition and build on from there."

Sunil Chhetri, Robin Singh and Francis Fernandes are the three seniors who have been named in the squad. The rest comprise U-23 players.

The following is the 30-member squad for the camp:

Goalkeepers: Amrinder Singh, Gurpreet Singh Sandhu, Ravi Kumar, Kamaljit Singh.

Defenders: Pritam Kotal, Keenan Almeida, Deepak Devrani, Joyner Lourenco, Shankar Sampingiraj, Sandesh Jhingan, Sanjay Balmuchu, Salam Singh, Narayan Das, Shouvik Ghosh.

Midfielders: Pronoy Halder, Rowlin Borges, Clifton Dias, Alwyn George, Siam Hangal, Lalrindika Ralte, Dhanpal Ganesh, Milan Singh.

Forwards: Francis Fernandes, Romeo Fernandez, Seiminlen Doungel, Sunil Chhetri, Robin Singh, Haokip Thongkoshim, Alesh Sawant, Mandar Rao Desai.