Izumi to lead Pune FC in Durand Cup

Long serving midfielder Arata Izumi will lead a 20-member Pune FC squad at the 127th edition of Durand Cup in Goa.

The third oldest football competition in the world continues to remain Pune FC's top-priority season opener and this will be the sixth time Pune FC will figure in the tournament.

Incidentally, the competition was the first national level meet the team played after coming into existence in 2007.

For Arata, this is the first time he will captain Pune FC. The India international gets the opportunity after skipper and defender Anas Edathodika misses out due to a hamstring injury.

Like in the previous edition, Pune FC is seeded directly into the quarter-final group stage and is paired along with Churchill Brothers and a qualifier in Group IV. They begin their campaign against Churchill Brothers Friday before facing the qualifier Tuesday at the Raia Sports Complex.

Going into the tournament after a long pre-season, Pune FC will hope to better their best ever performance of reaching the semi-finals in the 2011 edition. Moreover, having had a dismal run in the 2013 edition, the lads will be eager to put on a good show.

The 20-man squad announced by coach Karim Bencherifa consists of 11 retained players, eight new signings and an academy graduate.

The squad:

Goalkeepers: Amrinder Singh, Arup Debnath, Moniruzzaman Ansari

Defenders: Mathew Gonsalves, Zohmingliana Ralte, Luciano Sabrosa, Srikanth Ramu, Salam Ranjan Singh, Raju Yumnam

Midfielders: Dhanpal Ganesh, Arata Izumi (Captain), Prakash Thorat, Anthony D'Souza, Eric Brown, Mumtaz Akhtar, Fanai Lalrempuia, Ryuji Sueoka

Forwards: Bineesh Balan, Shoaib Syed, Thongkhosiem Haokip