Sunil Chettri scores on international return, India thump Maldives in Shillong

Sunil Chhetri scored on his return to international football. The veteran announced retirement in June 2024 but due to a lack of goal scorers in the national team, the 40-year-old was asked to come back and upon fruitful discussions with head coach Manolo Marquez, he made his return in the friendly against Maldives. Chhetri made an instant impact on the game, netting India’s third goal against Maldives in Shillong.

The Blue Tigers struggled to find the back of the net in the initial minutes and that was pretty much the story of the game before Rahul Bheke scored from the set-piece in the 34th minute of the match. Brandon’s brilliant delivery from the corner found Bheke, who made no mistake in turning it in. No Maldives player marked him well as Chhetri was guarded heavily. The defender took advantage of it to help the team take a 1-0 lead.

Soon after the goal, Brandon had to leave the field following an injury. The Mumbai City midfielder injured his knee and had to be replaced with Farukh Chadhury. Nevertheless, India kept wasting chances infront of the goal before another corner that was turned in the 66th minute of the game. In the absence of Brandon, Mahesh Naorem swung that one and found Liston Colaco on the second post.

The Mohun Bagan winger was unmarked and he made no mistake to make it 2-0. After scoring the goal, the youngster celebrated with the famous ‘SIUUUU’ celebration that Cristiano Ronaldo made popular. Meanwhile, towards the dying minutes of the game, Chhetri converted it to 3-0 with another header. This time, Colaco found the captain, who positioned himself well to convert it. The legendary footballer was in tears as India went on to win the match without much of a contest.

They will next face Bangladesh in the AFC Asian Cup qualifiers. Ahead of that, Marquez will have to work on the finishing ability of some of the players.