Punjab Football Club raring for second Indian Super League campaign
Speaking at the launch of their jersey launch and team announcement event in Chandigarh, the head coach of Punjab team, Panagiotis Dilmperis, said this about the blended unit which boasts of having a balance of youth and experience
Playing in their second Indian Super League (ISL), Punjab Football Club, the team management is raring for the challenge and go all guns blazing with a bolstered unit this season. As the Punjab outfit start their ISL campaign against Kerala Blasters on September 15 in Kochi, the team management is hopeful of a great run in the tournament and finish among the top six teams at the end.
Speaking at the launch of their jersey launch and team announcement event in Chandigarh, the head coach of Punjab team, Panagiotis Dilmperis, said this about the blended unit which boasts of having a balance of youth and experience.
“We have named a squad that can challenge for the top spots in the league this season. The foreign signings have plenty of experience and we have an exciting pool of Indian players. We have also maintained the core of our Indian players from last season. Our pre-season has been good, and we hope we start our season well and perform to our best capacity.” It maybe recalled that the Punjab team entered the ISL in 2023–24 after winning the 2022–23 I-League championship, making them the first team to be promoted from the I-League to the ISL. However, their campaign did not pan out the way they must have envisioned as they fell just short of play-off qualification in the last ISL season.
Dilmperis has picked a squad which has a balance of youth and experience. Luka Majcen, Mushaga Bakenga, Ezequiel Vidal, Ivan Novoselec, Asmir Suljic and Filip Mrzljak are the foreign signings of the squad. The new Indian signings include Vinit Rai, Ninthoinganba Meetei, Muheet Shabir, Nihal Sudeesh (on loan) and Likmabam Rakesh Singh (on loan). Mohammed Suhail F. and Shami Singamayum from the academy have been promoted to the senior side, which already has Tekcham Abhishek Singh, Manglenthang Kipgen and Ayush Deshwal from the academy.
They will play their first home game on September 20 at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium in New Delhi.
The team’s line-up includes Ravi Kumar, Muheet Shabir and Ayush Deshwal as goalkeepers; Khaiminthang Lhungdim, Melroy Assisi, Likmabam Rakesh Meitei (on loan), Tekcham Abhishek Singh, Ivan Novoselec (Croatia), Nitesh Darjee and Nongmeikapam Suresh Meitei as defenders; Nikhil Prabhu, Ricky John Shabong, Samuel Kynshi Lyndoh, Vinit Rai, Manglenthang Kipgen, Ashis Pradhan, Filip Mrzljak (Croatia) and Shami Singamayum as midfielders. Asmir Suljic (Bosnia), Mushagalusa Bakenga (Norway), Ezequiel Vidal (Argentina), Mohammed Suhail F, Leon Augustine, Ninthoinganba Meetei, Nihal Sudeesh (on loan) and Luka Majcen (Slovenia) will play as forwards. Apart from head coach Panagiotis Dilmperis, Konstantinos Katsaras is the team’s assistant coach.
