Bhubaneswar: Led by forward Connor Shields, Chennaiyin FC have named a strong squad for their Kalinga Super Cup 2025 opener against Mumbai City FC here Wednesday.
The tournament winners will earn a qualifying play-off spot for the AFC Champions League Two.
Apart from Shields, head coach Owen Coyle has also named standout Indian performers Irfan Yadwad and Jiteshwor Singh, among others.
Wilmar Jordan Gil and Daniel Chima Chukwu lead the attack, with the former aiming to become the outright top-scorer of the Super Cup.
With eight combined goals across multiple editions, Jordan, the leading cup scorer in 2023, is a goal shy of Sunil Chhetri at the top of the all-time standings.
Chennaiyin head into the tournament on the back of a convincing 5-2 win over Jamshedpur FC in their final league game in March.
The Marina Machans then spent three weeks training locally and played a friendly against East Bengal FC in Kolkata in the build up to Super Cup.
“We’re under no illusions how difficult the game will be Mumbai City are a wonderful side, with some outstanding players, both foreign and domestic,” said Coyle during a pre-match press conference.
“We’re looking forward to the game, we’ve shown that when we are at our very best, we can stand toe-to-toe with the best teams. The Super Cup is a great opportunity for everybody because there is an AFC spot available. There’s a huge incentive to have a go and win the cup.”
Joining Coyle for the press conference was Shields, who topped the playmaking charts in ISL 2024-25 with eight assists and recorded the most chances created in the league (76) in 21 games.
“We didn’t finish well in the ISL, but we’ve been back training for three weeks now, and everyone is ready to go,” said Shields.
Chennaiyin and Mumbai City share a history in this competition.
The two sides have faced off three times in the Super Cup, with Chennaiyin claiming victory once at this very stage in 2019, a result that sparked their run to the final.
That history adds an extra layer of intrigue to Wednesday’s fixture, with the winners advancing to play either Bengaluru FC or Inter Kashi in the quarterfinals.
Ahead of the tie, Coyle also confirmed that he has no fresh injury concerns barring Laldinliana Renthlei, who is recovering from a long-term affliction and thus could not make the squad.
