Bengaluru announce 25-member squad for ISL

Bengaluru FC Media

Bengaluru Football Club have named their 25-man squad for the 2018-19 edition of the Indian Super League which kicks off in little under two weeks, the club announced on Tuesday.

Having selected a new-look squad from the player-draft after making the move to the ISL last year, the Blues, who finished top of the league with a record tally of 40 points, have retained as many as twelve players this season while five youngsters make the move up from Bengaluru FC B.

Head coach Carles Cuadrat who took charge of the side in the AFC Cup Inter-Zone semifinal last month, has been working hard with the boys and expects a tough season when the league kicks off in two weeks. “Our season began much before most clubs given we had our AFC Cup commitments. This has given us time to work with the squad we have. We have managed to retain a fair number of players from last season which is always a good thing. This season will also see five players from Bengaluru FC B fight for a place on the team and that is always encouraging as a club. There’s a good mix of experience and youth and every one of the players is hungry. It’s going to be a tough season, but one that we will give everything we have,” said the Spaniard.

While Sunil Chhetri will continue to lead the squad in his sixth season as a Blue, goalkeeper Gurpreet Singh Sandhu, defenders Rahul Bheke and Harmanjot Khabra along with attackers Boithang Haokip, Thongkhosiem Haokip and Udanta Singh are the Indian players to be retained. Midfielder Kean Lewis and defender Sairuat Kima are the new domestic players signed earlier this season while, defenders Rino Anto and Gursimrat Singh Gill and goalkeeper Soram Poirei return to Bengaluru.

Among the foreigners, Miku, who netted 20 goals last season will lead the forward line alongside Chhetri and joining him are Dimas Delgado, Juanan Gonzalez and Erik Paartalu. With the teams now allowed to sign only seven foreigners, as compared to eight last season, the Blues have brought in Xisco Hernandez, who made his debut last month in the AFC Cup, as well as attacker Chencho Gyeltshen and new signing Albert Serran.

The five BFC B boys making the move up to the first team include Bidyananda Singh and Asheer Akhtar, who have made their BFC debut in the AFC Cup, along with Altamash Sayed, Aditya Patra and Ajay Chhetri. While all five impressed for BFC B in the 2nd Division League last year, Ajay was even part of U18 team last season and helped the team all the way to the final phase of the Youth League in Shillong.

The Blues begin their Indian Super League campaign against defending champions Chennaiyin FC at the Fortress on September 30.

Team

Goalkeepers: Gurpreet Singh Sandhu, Soram Poirei Anganba, Aditya Patra (U21)

Defenders: Rahul Bheke, Albert Serran, Sairuat Kima, Juanan Gonzalez, Harmanjot Singh Khabra, Rino Anto, Nishu Kumar, Asheer Akhtar, Gursimrat Singh Gill

Midfielders: Erik Paartalu, Kean Francis Lewis, Dimas Delgado, Bidyananda Singh, Boithang Haokip, Francisco ‘Xisco’ Hernandez, Ajay Chhetri (U21), Altamash Sayed

Forwards: Nicolas Ladislao Fedor ‘Miku’, Sunil Chhetri, Thongkhosiem Haokip, Udanta Singh, Chencho Gyeltshen 

Bengaluru strengthen attack, sign Venezuela International Miku

Bengaluru FC Media

Bengaluru FC have added more firepower to their frontline with the signing of Venezuelan International striker Nicolas ‘Miku’ Ladislao Fedor Flores ahead of their debut Indian Super League season, the club announced on Tuesday. The 32-year-old who signed a two-year deal, arrives to Bengaluru from Spanish side Rayo Vallecano with whom he spent the last two-and-a-half seasons.

The 6’ 1” attacker will team up with Spaniard Braulio Nobrega at the front and becomes the Blues’ seventh foreign signing for the season and the first ever South American player at the club.

Head Coach Albert Roca was delighted with the newest addition to the squad and said, “I’m extremely happy to have secured the services of Miku. He is an exciting player with some great skills and his playing style will help us a lot. Miku has played for several top clubs for a number of years now, and the experience he brings in will be very crucial for us this season.”

Having completed formalities, an excited Miku said, “I have heard a lot about the club and the city. We have some great players in the club who always fight for titles, so I hope it will be a good season for every one of us in Bengaluru. I spoke to Albert Roca about the club, the league and the team. He’s a very good and experienced coach and explained to me what he wants from me for this season. I can’t wait to join my teammates and begin training.”

Born in Caracas, Venezuela to a Hungarian father and a Venezuelan mother, Miku began his football career in Spanish powerhouse Valencia’s youth system. Turning professional in 2004 with the Mestella-side, the striker turned out for CD Alcoyano (2004-05, 2nd B), UD Salamanca (2005–06, 2nd B), Ciudad de Murcia (2006, 2nd), Valencia ‘B’ (2007, 2nd B), Gimnastic de Tarragona (2007–08, 2nd), UD Salamanca (2008–09, 2nd) in the Spanish league system. His highlight during this period was striking 18 goals in the promotion winning campaign at Salamanca during the 2005-06 Segunda ‘B’ season.

The striker returned back to parent club Valencia for the 2009-10 La Liga season, before moving in the heart of Spain to Getafe. His four-year spell with the Madrid-based club saw him amass 26 La Liga goals in 90-plus appearances. Miku also had short loan spell with Glasgow-based Celtic FC in 2012-13 where he won the Scottish League and Cup double.

The following season, the Venezuelan moved out of Europe for his first spell in Asia where he represented Al-Gharafa SC (2013-15) in the Qatar Stars League. In January 2015, Miku returned to Spain to join Rayo Vallecano, another Madrid-based club. The striker settled in quickly and began firing all guns blazing in the 2015-16 season. In February 2016, he became the first Venezuelan to score in four consecutive Spanish top flight matchdays, winning La Liga’s Player of the Month award. That season Miku netted nine times and assisted four goals in 22 appearances for Rayo in the La Liga finishing their joint second-highest top-scorer in the league.

At the continental level, Miku has represented Celtic in the UEFA Champions League while playing in the UEFA Europa League for Getafe and Valencia, also scoring a hattrick in the competition for the latter.

A full international since 2006, Miku has 51 caps for Venezuela and has scored 11 times, most notably against Brazil in the during the 2015 Copa America in Chile. The striker also helped his team to a fourth-place finish in the 2011 Copa America held in Argentina. Interestingly, the striker has already played in India as a part of the Venezuela team which faced Argentina in an International Friendly in Kolkata back in September 2011.

For the record, Miku is the fifth-highest (joint) goalscorer for the Venezuelan national team and is 23rd (joint) in the list of most caps for his country.