Sunil Chhetri double engulfs Cambodia as India kick off Asian Cup qualifying campaign with victory | Football news

KOLKATA: Talismanic Sunil Chhetri was again the man of the moment as he scored a brace to inspire India to a 2-0 win over Cambodia in their opening match Asian Cup Final qualifying game at Salt Lake Stadium next Wednesday.
Igor Stimac’s side were at their worst and were unable to take advantage of better possession against a weak side but the 37-year-old brought Chhetri back from an injury break to score in the Premier League. halftime break (minutes 13 and 59).
The double brought him back to third place on the list of top scorers among active players of world football. With 82 goals in 127 matches, Chhetri is now behind the Portuguese superstar Cristiano Ronaldo (117) and Argentinian artist Lionel Messi (eighty six).
After a tense start saw their star midfielder Sandesh Jhingan Receiving a yellow card in the third minute for arguing with the referee, Chhetri resolved the tension when taking a 14th minute penalty calmly.

It was Liston Coca-Cola who was tripped into the box by Cambodia’s Kok Boris. Chhetri took center stage and overcame a diving Hul Kim Huy with a powerful blow.
But then it was a story of missed opportunities for the Blue Tigers, who couldn’t justify their 69% possession to go into the break with a slim lead. .
Chhetri missed a few headers and was even shown a yellow card in the 30th minute for a rough tackle on Choun Chanchav as that was not the kind of start the Blue Tigers wanted against the Angkor Warriors. poor.
A few changes during the break – Sahal Abdul Samad and Udanta Singh came on for Manvir Singh and Anirudh Thapa – made the Blue Tigers more fluid in their attack.
Finally, it was from a superb assist from Brandon Fernandes that Chhetri completed his brace to help India make it 2-0 in injury time.
Goan announced his return to the starting line-up with a precise cross and Chhetri surged forward just enough to connect with a free header and take home his 82nd international goal.
The India captain was brought on by Stimac in the 68th minute with Ashique Kuruniyan replacing him.
For Stimac, it was his first win at home since he was appointed head coach of the Blue Tigers.
Stimac has lost 3 times and drawn 2 times at home, conceding 13 goals before.
Mars kickoff glitch national anthem
The match began to suffer technical problems when the Cambodian team had to wait about 10 minutes for their national anthem to be played to the embarrassment of the All India Football Federation.
The announcement was made for the away team’s national anthem but what was played was the national anthem of India and the Cambodian people were waiting.
A successful start for Hong Kong
Hong Kong scored two first-half goals from Wong Wai (23) and Matt Orr (27) to beat Afghanistan 2-1 for a winning start to their campaign earlier in the day.