Just one Goan in India under-23 team

Panaji: Former chief minister Manohar Parrikar wanted Goans to make up half of India’s football squad. But given ground realities, the man who gave football the status of state sport here in Goa, even a couple of players finding a place in the team, should be cause for celebration.
Against Nepal in the pre World Cup qualifiers, India had just two Goans -- Francis Fernandes and Lenny Rodrigues -- among the starting eleven but shockingly the India under-23 squad that left this morning for Bangladesh to participate in the AFC under-23 Championship has just one Goan.
Goalkeeper Albino Gomes (Salgaocar FC) is the lone Goan selected by coach Savio Medeira for the championship in Dhaka which acts as the preliminary step for qualifying for 2016 Rio Olympics.
So when India lines up to take on the might of Uzbekistan in the opening match on Friday, it is more than certain that there will not be a single Goan on the field as either Amrinder Singh (Pune FC) or Rehenesh TP (Shillong Lajong) is expected to get the nod to guard India’s goal. Other teams in the group include Syria and hosts Bangladesh.
There is more than enough Goan representation in the Indian team, though, as three officials have made the trip. Coach Savio Medeira, goalkeeping coach Marcus Pacheco and physiotherapist Russel Pinto have all traveled to Dhaka with the India squad.
The Indian squad had assembled for a preparatory camp in Goa from March 4.
Goan players, Brandon Fernandes and Rowlin Borges, both from Sporting Clube de Goa, missed out due to injuries.
The team: Goalkeepers: Amrinder Singh (Pune FC), Albino Gomes (Salgaocar), Rehenesh TP (Shillong Lajong); defenders: Abhishek Das (East Bengal), Satish Singh (United Sports), Sankar Sampingiraj (Bengaluru FC), Deepak Sumnath (Bhawanipore), Bikramjeet Singh (Bharat FC), Sandesh Jhingan (Sporting Clube), Pritam Kotal (Mohun Bagan); midfielders: Germanpreet Singh, Prabir Das (both Dempo), Nikhil Kadam (Pune FC), Dhanachandra Meetei (Churchill Brothers), Siam Hangal (Bengaluru FC), Manish Bhargav (Mohun Bagan), Avinash Rui Das (East Bengal), Rajinder Kumar (Bharat FC), Jayesh Rane (Mumbai FC); Sumit Passi (Sporting Clube), Haokip Thonghkosim (Pune FC), Vinit Rai, Holicharan Narzary (both Dempo SC).