Odia Footballer In Team India Probables For FIFA World Cup 2022 Qualifier Against Qatar

Bhubaneswar: Odisha FC defender Shubham Sarangi has found a place in the Indian National Team probables camp ahead of the FIFA World Cup 2022 qualifier Group E match on March 26.

Head Coach Igor Stimac named a 43-man probable squad for the same on Thursday.

The match will be played at Kalinga Stadium in the Odisha capital.

Besides Sarangi, Vinit Rai, Jerry Mawihmingthanga and winger Nandhakumar Sekar of Odisha FC have also been selected for the camp.

Known for being aggressive and combative on the field, Sarangi (19) was born in Delhi.

He got into the sport, in his own words, playing against boys bigger than him, in his colony in South Delhi. His break came when the Delhi team for the Under-14 Nationals was being formed, according to a report published in the SportStar.

He was selected for the Nationals in Kalyani and later picked by the AIFF Elite Academy, where he played he played alongside majority of the U-17 squad, including Rahul KP and Jitendra ‘Jitu’ Singh.

The biggest shocker make when he failed to make it to the final list of 23 players for 2017 Under-17 World Cup. Sarangi was the one of the most notable names missing from the squad, it added.

A forward, he then joined hometown club Delhi Dynamos. Sarangi was the first player from the club to head to Aspire Academy, a partner of Dynamos, for a 4-month long training session at the state-of-the-art facilities in Doha in 2018.

When Delhi Dynamos was rechristened as Odisha Football Club (OFC) with the club signing a long-term agreement with the Odisha government in September this year, he was the only local lad in the squad.

Also Read: Bhubaneswar Picked Over These Four Indian Cities To Host FIFA 2022 Qualifier

Full squad:
Goalkeepers: Amrinder Singh, Subhasish Roy Chowdhury, Rafique Ali Sardar, Gurpreet Singh Sandhu, Vishal Kaith, Prabhsukhan Gill.

Defenders: Pratik Prabhakar Chowdhary, Shubham Sarangi, Subhasish Bose, Narender, Adil Khan, Sandesh Jhingan, Prabir Das, Rahul Bheke, Pritam Kotal, Nishu Kumar, Sumit Rathi, Seriton Fernandes, Mandar Rao Dessai.

Midfielders: Rowllin Borges, Amarjit Singh, Jeakson Singh, Nandhakumar Sekar, Lalengmawia, Vinit Rai, Raynier Fernandes, Nikhil Poojary, Mawihmingthanga, Halicharan Narzary, Sahal Abdul Samad, Edwin Sydney Vanspaul, Brandon Fernandes, Anirudh Thapa, Udanta Singh, Ashique Kuruniyan, Lallianzuala Chhangte, Jackichand Singh, Micheal Soosairaj.

Forwards: Farukh Choudhary, Jeje Lalpekhlua, Liston Colaco, Sunil Chhetri, Manvir Singh.