Present and future on the mark as India skip past Tajikistan

Coach Bob Houghton’s team had got a psychological boost when the final was shifted from monsoon-hit Hyderabad to the Capital. And, at the floodlit Ambedkar Stadium, India notched up their second major triumph a year after the memorable Nehru Cup win.

The man who made most of the shift was Chhetri. In front of a 20,000-strong partisan crowd, the stocky striker feasted on the lapses in the Tajik defence.

With the present and future of India team — Bhutia and Chhetri — in tandem, India didn’t have to wait for long to open their account.

In the 9th minute, a Steven Dias cross was headed towards the goal by NP Pradeep. Tajik custodian Tuvchiev Alisher managed to punch the ball straight to Chhetri, who tapped in to give India the lead.

But a deafening roar gave way to a hush as, much to the disbelief of the crowd, the linesman called for an offside. Celebrations, however, resumed again after Uzbek referee Valentin Kovalenko overruled the decision. More drama ensued as the visitors protested and the match was stopped for a few minutes.

Silken touch

But there was nothing controversial about the second goal — Chhetri’s 18th minute cross on the top of the box found Indian skipper Bhutia, whose silky left-foot touch doubled the Indian lead.

Minutes later, it was Chhetri’s turn to show off his left foot. The striker chested a clearance from Surkumar Singh and hit a low ball on the turn to make it 3-0.

Now totally relaxed, the Indians dominated possession with their short passes. The visitors, who relied mainly on long balls, got some consolation in the 43rd minute when a 25-yard strike to the far post from midfielder Fatkhuloev Fatkhullo found the back of the net. Even at half-time, however, the 3-1 lead seemed decisive.

Tajikistan attacked in the second session, but goalkeeper Subrata Paul was up to the task.

With India cruising in the 75th minute, Chhetri capped his night by finding the back of the net after stealing the ball from right under the Tajik goalkeeper’s nose to complete his hat-trick.

As the referee blew the final whistle, there was a sense of deja vu in the stadium for it was here that India had won their first major title in 23 years last August. On Wednesday, they took another giant leap forward.