Virender Singh of JCT, the lone player to report, was found wandering alone at the venue. Virender is one of the three goalkeepers selected for the preliminary camp. Most of the players selected for the camp were doing duty at the just concluded Santosh Trophy at Chennai. A good number of players who are to attend the camp belong to either Bengal or Goa who played in the final at Chennai on Sunday. They are expected to reach here only by Tuesday.

However, the fact that the All India Football Federation scheduled the camp to start on a day when most players selected could not make it due to prior commitments, reflects poorly on their planning. Expecting the players who have just completed playing in the Santosh Trophy toattend a conditioning camp without a break is indicative of poor thinking on the part of the Federation especially since the players have had a hectic domestic schedule. The players were involved in the Federation Cup followed by National League and Santosh Trophy for the past six months. This non-stop activity is bound to take its toll on the players.

The AIFF has now planned a six-day preliminary camp in Bangalore, followed by the final camp in Goa from April 12 to 19.

Sukhwinder Singh, the new National coach, said that since the duration of the camp is short, stress would be given to players' mental and physical fitness and recuperation. ``Players need to have recovery period. The first three days will be devoted to physical conditioning. In the later stage, we'll look after the shooting skills, finishing technics etc.,'' said former international Sukhwinder who is doing National duty after a gap of six years.

S Krishnaji Rao of Indian Telephone Industries, Bangalore is the assistant coach, whileBrahmanand Shankwalker of Goa is the coach for goalkeepers.

Defending champions India will play their first match on April 21 in the five-nation tournament at Goa. India had won the last edition of the championship held in Kathmandu.

The probables:

Goalkeepers: Virender Singh (JCT), Kalyan Chaubey, Juje Siddi (East Bengal).

Stand By:Prasanta Dora (Bengal).

Defenders:R Mustafa, D Ghosh, Joe Paul Ancheri (Mohun Bagan), Ratan Singh (East Bengal), Prabjot Singh (FC Kochin), Daljit Singh, Deepak Mandol (JCT), Robert Fernandes (Salgaocar).

Stand byes: P Dutta, Mahesh Gawli.

Midfielders: J Robert, S Venkatesh (Salgaocar), Ranjan Dey, Carlton Chapman, Basudeb Mandol (East Bengal), James Singh (BMFC), Rampal (JCT), RP Singh (Bagan).

Stand bye:Noel Wilson.

Forwards:Bruno Coutinho (Salgaocar), Baichung Bhutia, IM Vijayan, Dipendu Biswas (East Bengal), Hardeep Gill (JCT), Sabir Pasha (Indian Bank).

Stand bye: Raman Vijayan (EastBengal).