Hosts India beat Kyrgyz Republic 2-0 to extend their winning run at home to five matches and also lift the Tri-National International Tournament Trophy.
It was a night of wild celebrations as India played the Kyrgyz Republic at the Khuman Lampak Stadium in the capital, Manipur.
As the crowd of 30,000 cheered and applauded Sunil Chhetri and his men from the start, the Blue Tigers played inspirational football against top seed Kyrgyz Republic to win 2- 0 and raise the trophy of the three-country international tournament.
Having played in FIFA’s timetable between 22 and 28 March 2023, Croatian coach Igor Stimac and his men made the most of that by winning both matches in the tournament.
They started their campaign with a 1-0 win over Myanmar and a rather impressive goal against the Kyrgyz Republic on Tuesday put them in the enviable position of finishing the tournament with six points from two games
Against the Kyrgyz Republic, the first goal came from a rather surprising combination – centre-back Sandesh Jhingan scored 34 minutes into the match.
Brandon Fernandes sent the ball past the opponent’s goal from a free kick , Jhingan rushed in like a leopard to score.
India kept launching attacks whenever they had the opportunity, and one such move in the 84th minute saw the Kyrgyz Republic defence crumble under pressure as Naorem Mahesh Singh was brought down inside the penalty box by Davydov Nikolai.
The ensuing spot kick saw Chhetri score his 85th international goal. The striker stepped up to take the kick and tucked it into the corner of the net. This was India’s fifth straight win on home turf.