31 players selected for 'Viva Kerala'

A professional football club 'Viva Kerala', formed by a group of businessmen, selected 31 players for its team on Thursday, after a three-day selection trial in Kochi.

The players were selected from the 52 probables who attended the final selection trials at Jawaharlal Nehru International stadium in Kochi.

T K Chathunny is the main coach of the team.

The club was holding talks with the Greater Cochin Development Authority to get the stadium ground for permanent practice.

The club's main aim was to play the Districts league championship next year.

The selection process was done by Chathunny, together with former international footballers C C Jacob, M M Jacob, Victor Manjila and Kerala Sports Council Coach P K Rajeev.

Viva Kerala now have a young team, with the average age of the players being between 18-25. The team would begin practising from June

Following is the players list:

Goalkeepers: N Anoop (Palakkad), Sanju Cherian (Ernakulam), V K Thaisim and A Jaffer (kozhikode), T G Purushothaman (Thrissur).

Defenders: K N Abdul Salam and C Shameel (Malappuram), S Srinivas and V Pradeep (Palakkad), K L Ameer (Thiruvananthapuram), K J Lenin, V S Anoj, Robin Joseph and C O Johnny (Thrissur) and C B Shabeer (Kozhikode).

Mid-fielders: Joseph Perera (Wynad), T Sumesh, P T Somy, A M Sajeer, P V Sreejith (Thrissur), Sanjaykumar De (Thiruvananthapuram), Mohammed Afzal (Malappuram), R Rajesh (Alapuzha), Vineeth Antony and Amjad Basheer (Ernakulam).

Forwards: Rajesh Kumar (Wynad), P V Vijeesh (Thrissur), Rajesh Mathew (Kottayam), Jackson Sebastian (Thiruvananthapuram), Denson Devadas (Kannur) and P A Javed (Ernakulam).