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It was a glorious day for Indian football on Wednesday when India outplayed defending champions Tajiskistan 4-1 to lift the AFC Challenge Cup. India has now qualified for the 2011 Asia Cup football tournament.
The win over Tajikistan is one of memorable wins in the country’s soccer history. Skipper Bhaichung Bhutia and Striker Sunil Chettri gave spectacular performance to romp India home.
The turf at the Ambedkar stadium has been lucky for the Indian team as India picked the Nehru Cup at the same venue exactly a year ago. It was mere a coincidence that the final was shifted to Delhi from Hyderabad after a heavy downpour in the southern Indian city made it impossible for the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) to host the title clash in Delhi.
The brilliant effort by team India was mainly catapulted by its two main strikers Bhaichung Bhutia and Sunil Chettri, who scored in tandem against a side, which was far more superior to them. Tajikitsan was determined to retain the title but the superb goalkeeping by Subrata Paul who walled in front of them to do so. Paul’s acrobatics dives thwarted several attempts of Tajikistan strikers.
Sunil Chettri rose to the occasion before his home crowd with a brilliant hattrick (9th, 24th and 76th) along with skipper Bhaichung Bhutia who struck in the 19th minute. But had it not been for Paul, India’s win would not have looked convincing.
