Bengaluru: Bengaluru Football Club on Wednesday announced their 30-man squad for their 2023 Hero Super Cup campaign set to commence with a clash on April 8 in Kozhikode.
As many as three players have made the jump from the Bengaluru FC ‘B’ squad, with Simon Grayson naming five foreigners as part of his roster.
“It is another opportunity for us to add some more silverware to the club’s trophy cabinet. It also comes with the added incentive of possible qualification for the AFC Cup, so we look forward to that. There are no easy groups and games in this tournament and the boys are looking forward to the challenge.”
Among the newcomers in the team are players from the Karnataka State squad that won the 76th Santosh Trophy, defender Robin Yadav and midfielder Lalremtluanga Fanai, while newcomer Shreyas Ketkar has also made the jump.
Defender Alan Costa is the only foreigner missing from the Blues’ ISL squad, having ended his loan spell at the end of last month.
“We have gone with our strongest squad and I am also thrilled to see a few youngsters make it from the B team. These players have done well in the B team games and have worked hard with us in training. This is a chance to integrate them in the squad and see how much they can learn and develop over the course of this tournament.”
The Blues begin their campaign with a clash against Sreenidi Deccan FC, who came out 4-2 winners against NEROCA FC in their final qualification round. Kick-off at the EMS Corporation Stadium is scheduled for 5pm on Saturday.
Squad:
Goalkeepers: Gurpreet Singh Sandhu, Amrit Gope, Lara Sharma, Sharon Padattil
Defenders: Sandesh Jhingan, Parag Shrivas, Aleksandar Jovanovic, Naorem Roshan Singh, Prabir Das, Namgyal Bhutia, Wungngayam Muirang, Robin Yadav, Biswa Darjee
Midfielders: Bruno Silva, Jayesh Rane, Suresh Singh Wangjam, Javi Hernandez, Rohit Kumar, Pablo Perez, Ashish Jha, Fanai Lalremtluanga, Thoi Singh, Damaitphang Lyngdoh, Shreyas Ketkar
Strikers: Sunil Chhetri, Sivasakthi Narayanan, Roy Krishna, Harmanpreet Singh, Leon Augustine, Udanta Singh.
