NEW DELHI:The Indian football team left for Bangalore on Wednesday enroute to Maldives and Qatar where they will play two friendlies ahead of their World Cup qualifier against UAE on July 23.

But the 30-member team, which was picked by interim coach Armando Colaco here on Tuesday, left without a captain being named for the two games.

Armando said, "For the friendly matches we may have two different captains." But according to the coach, the team will have the same captain for the two legs of World Cup qualifiers.

At the Asian Cup in January, Climax Lawrence got the armband from skipper Baichung Bhutia who didn't play in the first two matches against Australia and Bahrain.

Understanding Armando's 'veiled support' for Dempo players, this time too Climax may get the nod ahead of other senior players like Sunil Chhetri and Syed Rahim Nabi to lead the national team. India play Maldives on July 10 after which they travel to Doha for another preparatory camp and play Qatar on July 17.

Passport goof-up

With Armando in-charge of the team, nobody could explain the goof-up related to the passports of three players Rocas Lamare, Khelemba Singh and Gilberto Oliviera. They miss the current trip because their passports weren't in order.

Interestingly, all these players play for I-League winners Salgaocar, Dempo's arch-rivals. For the record, Armando has picked seven Dempo players and included only one Salgaocar player, goalkeeper Karanjit Singh. It's easy to blame the AIFF.

The federation had already intimated their respective clubs of their selection for the national camp. It's the duty of the clubs to check the status of passport of their own players," said an AIFF official.

Lilo demands huge salary

The AIFF is unlikely to appoint Spaniard Juan Manuel Lilo as the chief coach of the national team as he demanded an 'astronomical' salary. According to sources, the Spanish coach's salary demands and inability to speak English are major obstacles for selection.