Jamshedpur, May 30: Nine former cadets of the Tata Football Academy (TFA) have made it to the senior national soccer squad for the pre-World Cup qualifying tie in Japan. The Indian team will play the home team at Saitama on June 9.

The Indian team was announced by the All India Football Federation (AIFF) after a selection trial conducted at Margaon in Goa.

The atmosphere at the academy was one of joy as the officials and cadets received the news of the ex-cadets’ inclusion in the national camp.

Sweets and snacks were ordered and distributed. Happiness was writ large on the faces of each cadet as they shared in the happiness of their seniors. “This is the first time that such a large number of TFA cadets have been selected in the Indian senior team. This will be a source of inspiration to the junior cadets,” a TFA official said.

He confirmed the inclusion of the nine TFA graduates in the Indian squad for the World Cup qualifying tie versus Japan. “Gourmangi Singh, Debabrata Roy, Habibur Rahman Mondal, Sangram Mukherjee, Mahesh Gawli, Deepak Mondal, Satish Bharti, Rennedy Singh and Subhash Chakraborty have found berths in the Japan-bound squad,” he said.

Midfielder Gourmangi, skipper of the national under-19 team, wingback Debabrata Roy and defender Habibur graduated from the academy last month while the rest had passed out earlier.

In fact, TFA has long served as a talent pool for the national clubs. All TFA graduates now don colours of different glamour soccer clubs of the country.

“It is a matter of pride for us. Our cadets have become a major part of national squads of different age groups. Earlier, 14 cadets of the academy were included in the under-17 Indian team for the Milk Cup in Ireland. Twelve of them played in the recently-concluded South Asian Federation (SAF) Games in Islamabad,” TFA officials said.TFA has emerged as the one of the premier soccer training institutes of the country, said officials. “It’s a big match where the skill and stamina of the players will be put to test,” they added.