This was India’s first victory in the continental tournament after 55 years India last won a match in the final rounds of Asian Cup Football was way back in 1964 when it was held in Tel Aviv.
Sunil Chhetri (2), Anirudh Thapa and Jeje were the goal scorers for India. Chhetri now has 67 international goals to his name - the third best after Ronaldo and Messi.
Thailand despite being 11 places behind India in the FIFA Rankings, were touted as the favourites of the encounter, mainly because of India’s dismal record in the tournament and their inability to win against top-ranked teams. The Blue Tigers, however, chose the perfect occasion to answer their critics led by who else but Sunil Chhetri. Chhetri, however, wasn’t the captain on paper for India. Moments before the start it was revealed that goal-keeper Gurpreet Singh will be wearing the captain’s arm-band against Thailand instead of Chhetri, a move which baffled the experts but thankfully, had no bearings on the outcome of the match.
If anything, the move spurred Chhetri on. He put India ahead almost against the run of play from a penalty kick in the 27th minute of the match by sending the Thailand keeper to the left. India’s joy though lasted for only three minutes as Thailand were back level from a well-delivered spot-kick which was headed in by their captain Dangda.
The goal put the pressure right back on India. Thailand continued to press forward till the whistle for the half-time was blown.
In the second half though, a completely different India took the field. In the 47th minute, an outstanding run fromUdanta Singh down the right flank took the Thailand defence by surprise. Udanata's cross found Chhetri and the experienced campaigner showed his class with a picture-perfect finish to give India a 2-1 lead. From then on, the 97-ranked Indian side did not look behind.
After countless attacks, it was again the Chhetri-Udanta combo in the 68th minute that knocked the wind out of Thailand. After a lovely one-two from Chhetri to Udanta, the latter decided not to go for the goal despite being in a one-on-one situation. He instead, tapped it straight to Anirduh Thapa - the youngest member of the Indian squad, who showcased icy cool nerves to chip over the diving defenders to score his first international goal at the age of 21.
When the result became obvious, India coach Stephen Constantine made two substitutions. He brought Jeje in for Ashique Kuruniyan and swapped Anirudh with Rowllin Borges in the 78th minute. A couple of minutes later, Jeje repaid the coach in style by scoring his first goal for India in 10 months to put the final nail the coffin.
India next play UAE on January 10th.