Maldives national football team has commenced training for their upcoming match against Palestine, in the AFC Asian Qualifying Games.

29 players have been shortlisted for the team, with 28 showing up for Sunday’s training session.

While Club Eagles’ Ahmed Zaad missed the practice session, RaajjeMV understands that he is under the weather.

The 29 players consists of new faces to the senior men’s national team, including TC Club’s Ibrahim Mahdhee, Mohamed Azzaam and Ibrahim Waheed Hassan, Riham Abdul Ghani from Club Eagles, and Green Streets’ Ahmed Nizam and Mohamed Saaif.

The current squad consists of nine players from Maziya Sports and Recreation, four players from TC Sports Club, Club Valencia, New Radiant Sports Club and Club Eagles, and two from Victory Sports Club and Club Green Streets.

The final squad will consist of 23 players.

Maldives will play against Palestine on March 28, at the AFC Asian Qualifying Games. The match will begin at 2100 hrs in Galolhu National Stadium. Maldives is in Group D of the qualifiers, along with Palestine, Oman and Bhutan.

While the match is still on schedule, all sports associations in the country have cancelled their scheduled events due to recent H1N1 outbreak across the country, which has claimed the lives of three individuals so far.