The Indian senior men's team have begun their preparations for the upcoming friendly match against Vietnam, and head coach Manolo Márquez believes his wards are in better physical shape now than in the September window.
The Blue Tigers assembled in Kolkata on Saturday and held a training session on Sunday morning. The match is scheduled on October 12.
"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," said Manolo.
"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," he added.
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 Blue Tigers 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.
As far as the Vietnam trip is concerned, the plans had to be altered just two days ago when Lebanon announced their withdrawal from what was originally supposed to be a tri-nation friendly tournament.
India will now face the 116-ranked hosts in a one-off friendly 12.
"In one way, it's worse because you play only one game. In another way, it's better because you have a little more time to prepare. If we had to play on the 9th, practically, we would've had only two training sessions before the game.
"At least now we'll have four or five sessions. I think the players can better understand our philosophy. Let's see if that's enough or not. But that's normal when you play with the national team.
"You need to have some sessions under your belt before a match," the coach said.
The Spaniard oversaw a moderate intensity training session on Sunday morning at the AIFF National Centre of Excellence. The team will depart from Kolkata on Sunday night and arrive in Nam Ð?nh in the early hours of Monday.
"The attitude of the players was good today," said Manolo.
"Some of them played yesterday, the Mohun Bagan and East Bengal players. Even FC Goa played the day before. I like their optimistic attitude.
"Vietnam is also in a similar situation as us. Their league season is also four-five games old, so we arrive in similar conditions. I think the team which wins this will prove they are better than the other, at least in this game," the Spaniard added.
India's 23-member squad for the Vietnam friendly:
Goalkeepers: Gurpreet Singh Sandhu, Amrinder Singh, Vishal Kaith.
Defenders: Nikhil Poojary, Rahul Bheke, Chinglensana Singh Konsham, Anwar Ali, Aakash Sangwan, Subhasish Bose, Asish Rai, Mehtab Singh, Roshan Singh Naorem.
Midfielders: Suresh Singh Wangjam, Lalrinliana Hnamte, Jeakson Singh Thounaojam, Brandon Fernandes, Liston Colaco, Lalengmawia, Lallianzuala Chhangte.
Forwards: Edmund Lalrindika, Farukh Chaudhary, Manvir Singh, Vikram Partap Singh.
