Indian Football Legend Clifford Miranda Named the Manager of U-23 Football Team

At a technical committee meeting on Thursday, Clifford Miranda was selected to serve as the head coach of the Indian men's U-23 national team.

IM Vijayan presided over the meeting through video calls. Pinky Bompal Magar, Harjinder Singh, Arun Malhotra, Climax Lawrence, and Eugeneson Lyngdoh also attended the conference. Syed Shabir Pasha, the technical director for the AIFF, was present at the meeting.

The selection committee suggested Gavin Elias Araujo as the fitness coach, Raghuvir Khanwalkar as the goalkeeping coach, and Nallappan Mohanraj as the assistant coach.

AIFF GS on the appointment 

Dr. Shaji Prabhakaran, secretary general of the AIFF, welcomed Miranda's appointment, and said, as quoted by Sportstar: "Congratulations to Clifford for being selected as the head coach of the Indian men's U-23 national team, which will play in the AFC U-23 Asian Cup Qualifiers in China. Clifford did well to win the Super Cup for Odisha FC, and I'm sure we can expect a good performance from the Indian team."

Miranda's career

Miranda won the Super Cup in Kerala in April, becoming the first Indian coach to do it with an ISL squad.

With the Indian senior team, Miranda enjoyed a dazzling professional career that lasted nine years, from 2005 to 2014. With the Blue Tigers, the midfielder won two SAFF Championships, two Nehru Cups, and one AFC Challenge Cup. He won five NFL/I-League championships at the club level with Dempo SC.

Squad for the U-23 Asian Cup released

There was also a list of 28 players who are most likely to compete in the Qatar 2024 AFC U-23 Asian Cup Qualifiers. On August 12, the squad will start its training camp in Bhubaneswar. The qualifications will take place between September 6 and September 12, 2023, in Dalian. India has drawn against the Maldives, the United Arab Emirates, and the host country, China PR.