Sunil Chhetri scores twice to take India past Cambodia in the opening AFC Asian Cup Qualifiers encounter

India took on Cambodia in their Group D encounter in the 2023 AFC Asian Cup qualifiers on June 8. The two sides met at the Vivekananda Yuva Bharati Krirangan which was jam-packed to witness the Indian national team's first match in the much awaited qualifiers.

In the match prior to this clash, Hong Kong had beaten Afghanistan 2-1, which meant India had to start rolling their dice from the very first whistle.

The Blue Tigers looked to be dominating right from the start. The Angkor Warriors chose to defend in numbers. Keisuke Honda's side shaped up in a 5-3-2 while defending. Igor Stimac's side looked to have fielded a 4-1-4-1 formation with Suresh Singh Wangjam screening the two centre-backs.

Most of the attacks were based on the left side of the pitch where Liston Colaco and Brandon Fernandes combined with full-back Akash Mishra. Liston's pace and trickery were key to unlocking the Cambodian defense. It was his dribble inside the box that led to the first goal.

Colaco, after he dribbled past two defenders, was taken down inside the box and the referee pointed to the spot. Sunil Chhetri stepped up to take the shot and the skipper went for power. The Cambodian goalkeeper guessed right, but the power was too much for him. It took the Blue Tigers 14 minutes to score the first goal of the game.

As the match resumed, India looked to be dominating affairs again. This time, Igor Stimac's side intended on keeping the ball by passing it around horizontally. Cambodia looked set to break on the counter-attack on certain occasions but the Blue Tigers' defense was well set up to take care of the danger. Sandesh Jhingan's combination with Anwar Ali worked.

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Sunil Chhetri's second goal gave India a cushion against Cambodia

At the start of the second half, Anirudh Thapa and Manvir Singh were taken off to be replaced by Sahal Abdul Samad and Udanta Singh.

The second half was similar to that of the first. The Blue Tigers kept bombarding the Angkor Warriors with waves of attack while the latter soaked in pressure. Roshan Singh tried a long-ranger after cutting inside but his effort was slightly off target.

But minutes later Sunil Chhetri made it 2-0 for the home team. Brandon Fernandes' well-placed cross is met by the skipper, who manages to beat his marker and add to his tally.

Chhetri was then taken off to be replaced by Ashique Kuruniyan, while Glan Martins came off the bench to replace Brandon Fernandes. Cambodia had no shots on target in the game. This was a clear reflection of how well India's defense managed to keep their opponents at bay.

With 15 minutes of regulation time left on the clock, Igor Stimac replaced Roshan Singh with the experienced Pritam Kotal. The match ended with a scoreline of 2-0 in favor of the Blue Tigers. Sunil Chhetri’s brace took him closer to Ferenc Puskás, with the Indian skipper now two goals away from equaling the legendary Hungarian forward’s record.