Sunil Chhetri brace as India lift title

Mumbai: Sunil Chhetri has the ability to find the net even at the slightest of opportunities. The India skipper has the penchant of being in the right position along with a remarkable ability of finding the right spot. He showcased his prowess in plenty on Sunday, scoring a brace that sank the Kenyan side 2-0 to lift the Intercontinental Cup here at Mumbai’s Football Arena. En route, the striker equalled Lionel Messi’s international goals tally at 64 strikes.

The stadium recorded an attendance of 8,990 to see the Blue Tigers lift the silverware.

Early in the game, Chhetri was fouled on the right side of the Kenyan box. The angle was tough for him to convert so young Anirudh Thapa lined himself up to take the free-kick.

The skipper kept signalling Thapa standing from an offside position. Chhetri sensed that Michael Kibwage wasn’t doing his best job while he was marking him.

It was during Thapa’s run-up that Chhetri moved in an open area to place the ball in the bottom left corner smoothly to score his 63rd goal for the country.

Two minutes later, Chhetri had another opportunity to double the lead.

 The talisman had a couple of attempts after combining with Thapa and Jeje Lalpekhlua but the latter squandered a fair share of opportunities.

On the other hand, the Harambee Stars failed to surpass the defence line in the first half.

The frustration was evident both on the field and in the dugout.

It was not long before Chhetri doubled India’s lead. A lofted ball from defender Anas Edathodika enabled Chhetri to find space, taking it on his chest before netting it.

Sebastian Migne was forced to make a substitution in the 38th minute taking out midfielder Kenneth Muguna for forward John Makwata.

The visitors came into the second half with increased intensity. There were more corner-kicks and set pieces in favour of Kenya but goalkeeper Gurpreet Singh Sandhu stood strong on multiple occasions.

He even pulled out a spiderman-esque save from an Ovella Ochieng free-kick in the 77thminute. Sandhu stretched himself to the maximum deny the goal.

He thus did not concede a single goal in this tournament as Amrinder Singh had kept the goal in the 1-2 loss to New Zealand.

The Bengaluru FC stars shone the brightest on the day and there were solid performances from young Thapa, Anas Edathodika and Udanta Singh on the wings.