Chettri scores upon his return as Shillong lights up to The Blue Tiger Show : India vs Maldives International Friendly Match Review.

byRishav Ray -

Chettri scores upon his return as Shillong lights up to The Blue Tiger Show.

Picture Courtesy - Indian Football


A mixture of the old horses and young turks provided a comfortable 3-0 victory for the Indian Team’s international friendly against Maldives. A noisy 6,000 crowd at The Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium, Shillong welcomed an underprepared Maldives against an Indian Team that has been winless in the last 14 months. 

Manolo Marquez made some interesting changes in the starting line-up resting the likes of Sandesh Jhingan and Apuia Ralte while no. 20 Valpuia and no. 14 Ayush Chettri got their first national team call-up.

The midfield trio of Liston Colaco, Brandon Fernandes and Naorem Mahesh combined well to threaten the Maldives defense as veteran Chettri as always was a lingering threat around the box. He had a couple of chances but couldn't capitalise before India landed the opening goal from an out-swinging Brandon corner. An unmarked Rahul Bheke jogged onto the box, thundering it into the back of the net. 

1-0! India got its deserved lead through their old yet dependable horse. The Blue Tigers kept on piling up pressure until Brandon’s untimely injury at the end of first half got Manolo Marquez eyebrows raised. Farukh Choudhury had to be deployed as India closed the half with a slender 1-0 lead. 

Continuing the flow of the match, India kept on pressing in the second half as Chettri & co. geared up their game to extend the lead. Realising his forwards need space, Sunil soaked up the pressure allowing free flowing football between Naorem, Farukh and Liston. The results soon followed.

Mahesh’s corner from the left found Liston at the far post, who leaped high and placed a powerful header under the bar just past the reach of the keeper. An unusual way for the glittering winger to open his national team scoring. 

Liston Colaco stands as an embodiment of "if you fail, try, try and try again". There were a lot of noises of him not turning up for national colours as frequently as club colours but a goal and an assist surely silenced his critics. India went up 2-0!

As Maldives seemed to slowly fade away from the game, up rose one man who answered his nation’s call once again. Flashes of magical footwork, a bullet header saved on the line; how could the legend not grace the opportunity with open arms! Mahesh swung in a cross from the right, Farukh slipped as he went for it, Liston rescued it and swung in a low cross towards the near post, and like a predator, Chettri timed his run impeccably glancing the ball with the deftest touch to send it away from the goalie into the net. Ever green, Ever present, Ever scoring. 3-0!

Picture Courtesy - Indian Football


The full time whistle brought a breath of relief as India broke the winless streak under the tutelage of the evergreen legend. A confident victory against a team who played Bangladesh 5 times out of their last 6 matches can boost confidence and morale of the squad. 

However, eyeing India’s recent past form, Javier Cabrera’s (Bangladesh coach) men would definitely eye for a winner on 25th March with Hamza Chaudhury from Sheffield United added as their ace. While it will be upon Manolo Marquez to shape his team to the best of their abilities and fetch India the desired win.

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