Sunil Chhetri, captain of the Indian national football team, scored a decisive goal against Kyrgyzstan to secure India’s win in the third round of the AFC Asian Cup qualifications.
The two teams remained level on scores for the first half. After half-time, Indian captain Sunil Chhetri broke the deadlock with creating the counter-attack opportunity to take India ahead of its opposition.
Kyrgyzstan, ranked 132, began an attacking move in the 68th minute, attempting to play a close passing game to break into the Indian box. The move broke down after a misplaced Kyrgyzstan pass handed Chhetri the ball. The Indian captain didn’t need to be asked twice as he immediately initiated a counter-attack move, beating two Kyrgyzstan defenders.
Chhetri passed the ball forward to an open Jeje, who lobbed the ball through to his captain. Chhetri completed the lightning fast counter-attack with an incisive strike into the Kyrgyz goal.
With the win, India move to the top of their group after two matches. India will face Macau next on September 5, followed by repeat fixtures against Kyrgyzstan and Myanmar.