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Singapore, Oct 13 (IANS) The 20-member Indian national football team arrived here Saturday to play an international friendly against Singapore. The match is slated to played at the Choa Chu Kang Stadium Tuesday. The Indian team arrived in three batches, from Kolkata, New Delhi and Mumbai. While Wim Koevermans arrived with most of the Kolkata-based players in the morning, assistant coach Savio Medeira is expected to arrive late evening from Mumbai along with most of the Goa-based players. Meanwhile, Sunil Chhetri, who took a morning flight from New Delhi landed separately. "It will be a tough challenge for us," Chhetri said. "They will be playing on their home turf and are a good side. We come directly from the Nehru Cup triumph and it's natural, expectations back home, are running high," he added. "We have been on duty for our respective clubs since the Federation Cup but playing for the national team is a different feeling. It feels great to see all my teammates together and to be a part of a mission," defender Gouramangi Singh commented. Goalkeeper Subrata Pal lauded the initiative of playing an "international friendly on a FIFA date." "On Oct 16, almost all the top countries of the world would be playing in various international friendlies. It feels great that we also are on that list. It's a known fact that unless we play regularly on FIFA dates, we won't be able to improve our rankings," he opined. "The team spirit in the Nehru Cup was commendable. We need to stick together as a unit."
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