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| AFC Challenge Cup |
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| Busy schedule for India |
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| India coach Bob Houghton. |
NEW DELHI: AFC Challenge Cup 2008 hosts India have lined up a busy schedule to prepare for the competition which will be held in Hyderabad from July 30 to August 10.
India, who lost the South Asian Football Federation (SAFF) Championship final to Maldives recently by a solitary goal, will have a training camp in the Indian capital from June 24 before the team flies to Portugal for a 10-day training-cum-competition tour in the first week of July.
The team will also play a few friendly matches after their return from Portugal.
Indian coach Bob Houghton has added 11 players to the 20 who were part of the team for the SAFF Championship for the camp.
The Englishman has included Sandeep Nandy, Surkumar Singh, Clifford Miranda, K Ajayan and Baldeep Singh, who were injured before the South Asian event, in the list of 31 probables.
India have been clubbed in Group A alongside defending champions Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and surprise qualifiers Afghanistan in the AFC Challenge Cup.
Meanwhile, former coach Syed Nayeemuddin has called on the All India Football Federation (AIFF) to sack Houghton after the team’s failure to retain the SAFF Championship title.
Nayeemuddin, who was sacked after India’s loss at the hands of lowly Yemen in the 2006 World Cup qualifiers, said the same treatment should be given to Houghton after losing to Maldives.
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