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India faced Kenya in their second match of the Intercontinental Cup at the Andheri Sports Complex in Mumbai. It was a special day for the Blue Tigers as Captain Cool, the saviour Sunil Chhetri, played his 100th International match.
India, having beaten Chinese Taipei 5-0 sat pretty at the top of the table, Kenya, on the other hand, were breathing down their necks from the 2nd spot after having beaten New Zealand.
The match started under treacherous conditions as it started raining a few minutes before kick off, and the conditions were not at all suitable for playing quick swift football.
Sunil Chhetri nearly scored in the 21st minute when his curling chip from outside the box just went inches above the post.
The first half ended nil-nil as the game was marred by weather conditions.
The second half did start on a good note as the weather conditions got better and India took the lead through Sunil Chhetri. Jeje made it two-nil within minutes of the first goal being scored, and Chhetri added the icing on the cake by scoring his second and India’s third in the dying moments of the game to help India beat Kenya 3-0.
In this article, we take a look at three things that went right for India
#3 Pronoy Halder and Anirudh Thapa in Midfield
The match started under heavy conditions, and the Indian team was finding it difficult to get their feet sorted in the field. Pronoy and Anirudh though did a good job in keeping possession of the ball and not just launching long balls forward.
They also did a good job in shielding the defence in the first half especially. Pronoy nearly scored another screamer today, but his shot was saved by the keeper. Thapa, on the other hand, played the role of a box to box midfielder to perfection in very difficult conditions.
Pronoy also did a good job to nullify the physical advantage that Kenya had, and made sure India controlled the midfield.
Stephen has been under constant criticism for his choices in Midfield, but with Pronoy and Anirudh, it just seems that the British coach has got the combination just right for the moment.
#2 Mother Nature
The famous Mumbai rain had a big role to play today as the game as it started raining Cats and Dogs before kick off, and the rains continued till half time creating a puddle of water in various parts of the pitch.
Both the teams adopted a kick-about, long ball approach, and that seemed to favour India more as the African nation failed to adjust to the ground conditions properly and kept making mistakes.
Kenya did create three clear one-on-one chances but their strikers made a hash of things, due to the ground conditions in Mumbai. Kenya also had a lot of unfinished passes due to the heavy ground conditions, and that helped India to win the game.
#1 O Captain! My Captain!
Walt Whitman wrote this famous line(poem) in 1865, It was made famous by Robin Williams in the movie Dead Poets Society, but football-mad people of our country understood its true meaning only today. The Captain, My Captain, Our Captain, Sunil Chhetri showed the people of India again, why he is regarded as one of the finest sportsperson ever produced by our country.
Chhetri has been like wine for our country, he just keeps getting better with age. When one says that at the age of 33, he is having probably the best season of his life, people would tend to believe that one is lying, but alas stats seldom lie.
The game today was an emotional one for the Sunil Chhetri as he became probably only the second Indian to play 100 international games after Bhaichung Bhutia. He did take time to settle into the game and till the 50th minute he was guilty of missing some very good chances, but like always it just took a second for him to get his form back.
He scored the opening goal of the night from a penalty, and that was the goal that paved the way for victory today. It was his second goal of the night, though that had all the elements of his game in it. A determination to stay onside, hard work to get the better of the Centre backs and beat them with pace, and a calm cool head to finish off with that lovely chip from outside the box.
These three traits(Determination, Hard Work, Calm-Composed Nature) added with God gifted skill and impeccable technique is what has made Sunil Chhetri the most loved footballer of South East Asia.
