Meet Malsawmzuala and Sumeet Passi, the fresh young faces in the national team camp

WHEN STEPHEN CONSTANTINE took over the reigns of the Indian national football team for the second time, he announced that he would regularly give opportunities to youngsters to prove their ability to play for the national team in an effort to build the next generation of the national team.

Early on in his newest tenure, Indian football lovers got their first taste of emerging talent in the country when 18 year old Lallianzuala Chhangte scored a solid brace against Nepal in the SAFF Championship.

As Constantine assembles the national team again ahead of the World Cup Qualifier fixtures late this March, he has decided to give two more youngsters to prove their mettle and have a shot at making it to the national team.

One of them is Sumeet Passi, the 20 year old from Chandigarh who plays as a striker for Sporting Clube de Goa. Football runs in his blood; he is the son of Jai Prakash Passi who regularly represented Railways in the Santosh Trophy in his time. His exploits for the Chandigarh U-15 team turned a few heads and he got to play for the India U-19 squad, where he scored on his debut. Soon Indian Arrows, AIFF's pet youth project in the I-League, came calling and Passi played there for a season. In 2014, he joined Sporting Clube de Goa, where he has been used sparingly till now. 

Passi hasn't scored an I-League goal yet and his only  contribution to the Flaming Oranjes' cause this season has been coming on as a last minute substitute in the 0-0 draw against DSK Shivajians. But his performance for the India U-23 team caught Constantine's eye; who rewarded him with the opportunity to be with the biggest stars of Indian football in the national team camp.

The other fresh name is that of a more prominent face in the I-League circuit. A Malsawmzuala, who plays for a midfielder at Bengaluru FC, has been used quite a bit by the Blues this season; he has made 6 league appearances so far and stood his ground when called to duty in AFC Cup against Lao Toyota. 

Malsawmzuala earned his place in BFC with his performance for Chanmari FC in the Mizoram Premier League. He has also represented India U-19 on 9 different occasions. A place in the national team camp is a huge deal for this top division rookie; even if he does not make it to the final squad immediately he will surely gain valuable experience. 

It will be interesting to see if any of these youngsters make it on the flight to Iran. But it's clear that both of them are on Constantine's mind as future assets for the national team.