Kolkata, Oct 6 : Indian senior men's team have begun their preparations for the friendly match against Vietnam on October 12. The side assembled in Kolkata on Saturday and held a training session on Sunday morning. With the Indian Super League season underway, Manolo Marquez has reasons to believe his boys are in better physical shape now than in the September window.

"Obviously, physically we are better than when we were in pre-season. There are still some players who are performing well but they are not here. We're still in the beginning of the season. I don't want to talk much about the ones who are not here. If you speak with 20 people, all of them will give you a different list. We called these players because we think they are the best to play against Vietnam," said Marquez to AIFF's media team.

The Indian squad has a couple of new names like left-back Aakash Sangwan and 21-year-old midfielder Lalrinliana Hnamte, who have earned their first national team call-ups. Farukh Choudhary has made his way back in the squad after three years. The forward debuted in 2018 and has represented India 14 times, scoring once against Nepal in a friendly in 2021. The same year, Farukh was part of the India squad that won the SAFF Championship in Maldives.

As far as the Vietnam trip is concerned, the plans had to be altered just two days ago when Lebanon announced their withdrawal from what was originally supposed to be a tri-nation-friendly tournament. India will now face the 116-ranked hosts in a one-off friendly at the Thien Truong Stadium in Nam D'nh on October 12.

"In one way, it's worse because you play only one game. In another way, it's better because you have a little more time to prepare. If we had to play on the 9th, practically, we would've had only two training sessions before the game. At least now we'll have four or five sessions. I think the players can better understand our philosophy. Let's see if that's enough or not. But that's normal when you play with the national team. You need to have some sessions under your belt before a match," said Marquez.

India's 23-member squad for Vietnam friendly:

Goalkeepers: Gurpreet Singh Sandhu, Amrinder Singh, Vishal Kaith.

Defenders: Nikhil Poojary, Rahul Bheke, Chinglensana Singh Konsham, Anwar Ali, Aakash Sangwan, Subhasish Bose, Asish Rai, Mehtab Singh, Roshan Singh Naorem.

Midfielders: Suresh Singh Wangjam, Lalrinliana Hnamte, Jeakson Singh Thounaojam, Brandon Fernandes, Liston Colaco, Lalengmawia, Lallianzuala Chhangte.

Forwards: Edmund Lalrindika, Farukh Chaudhary, Manvir Singh, Vikram Partap Singh.

/IANS