8 out of 8 - Chhetri shines again as India score landmark victory over Kyrgyzstan

IN A GAME WHERE it was impossible to blink, the Indian team braved one of the toughest challenges they have faced from an opponent in recent times, and came out gloriously victorious, beating Kyrgyz Republic by 1-0 at Kanteerava tonight.

That it was going to be a contentious physical battle became clear already in the build-up to the game. The Kyrgyz Republic team are a physically strong bunch, and Constantine's training routine during the preparatory camp emphasized heavily on strength and stamina to counter that. 

Clash of bodies, pushes and aerial battles were regular from the get go. The first notable action of the game was Indian keeper Gurpreet Singh Sandhu making a mess of a collection and then bumping into Kyrgyz striker Zemlianukhin. The forward came out worse from the clash and went down, writhing in pain. He was immediately taken off the field, had his ribcage bandaged, and packed into an ambulance straight for the hospital.

The visitors were dominating possession early on and had their fair share of attacks. Lux and Baktiyar earned early corners but none of them created a scare; one saw Gurpreet pull off a diving punch-out. A free kick and a subsequent invasion by Amanbek provided little result. 

After the initial flurry, India began to regain composure. The first attacking move from India came when Narayan Das fed the ball to Rowllin Borges who exchanged the ball with Sunil Chhetri but the key pass was off target. The visitors immediately countered and earned a corner.

Emboldened, India ventured again at the 15 minute mark when Jeje, Sunil and Rowllin waltzed their way up capitalizing on a Kyrgyz midfield mistake. Their cross to Jackichand on the right, though, found him offside.

Moments later, Jeje got the ball from the midfield just outside the box, and his short cross to Sunil could have sent him past the defensive line but it did not work out. Next minute, Sunil's little chip almost sent Jeje into the goalmouth but Kyrgyz keeper Pavel was alert and grabbed the ball.

When it was 25 minutes on the clock, the speedy Jackichand came alive with a superb cross towards Sunil. A clever false from the skipper saw Holicharan run up from behind and get hold of the ball but his low shot was beautifully saved by Pavel. Then at the half hour mark Sunil blazed through the grass with a beauty of a run that left his marker behind. He cleared the Kyrgyz defence and crossed the ball towards Jeje who, although chased by his marker, had just the keeper ahead. But the first touch from Jeje was bad and it took the ball away from him, wasting the chance.

Towards the end of the first half came India's first moment of genuine scare. Amanbek sent in a cross that Akhlidin almost got on target. India survived, but this was a sign of things to come in the second half.

The visitors' game had a vicious bite when the second half began. Israilov got the ball inside the box from Lux. He tried to shoot it right in but somehow it went wide. 

Kyrgyzstan smelled blood. Israilov made a darting run into the Indian box holding off Borges and his speed caught Gurpreet completely off guard. His finish was almost impeccable; but it came off the bar. The striker held his hair in disbelief; the score was somehow still 0-0.

Then India countered. Narzary's beautiful cross found Sunil right at the goalmouth but he somehow shot it over the empty net; a potentially costly miss.

India almost came to rue that mistake when at the hour mark Murzaev's shot was blocked by Gurpreet but the ball went back to Lux with Gurpreet off the position and down on the ground. The rebound shot straight towards the goal but Sandesh Jhingan and Anas Edathodika made a stunning combined goalline save. India remained level.

And now came the hammer. With 68 minutes on the clock, a superb lofted ball from Jeje saw Sunil go clear into the Kyrgyzstan box. The skipper made no mistake this time. His shot found the net and sent his 6,200-odd loyal home fans into delirious joy. India had found the break-through; the second goal Kyrgyzstan had conceded in 6 matches. The match had now became a battle of nerves. The Blue Tigers still had to see it through till the end.

The physicality of the game came fully to the fore. Robin Singh came on as the scary henchman up front and within minutes he had clashed with a defender and the goalkeeper. The visitors started putting more bodies forward as they desperately sought an equalizer but it helped India launch counters more easily. Jeje made a darting run and a great cross from him found newly subbed-in Bikash Jairu on the left and had he crossed it into the goalmouth things could have been dangerous but he ended up going for glory and shooting it over.

Lux moved up with Farkhat and invaded India's box. Gurpreet rushed out to meet him and they knocked into each other. The ball reached Amanbek who had a clear sight of the goal but he shot it wide.

The intensity of the back-and-forth game increased as the clocked ticked towards the 90 minute mark and once into added time it had become a furious fight as both sides battled desperately to grind out a favourable result. 

Then, Sunil created the move of the game. He received a high ball, twisted and turned his way past two defenders into the box, drew the keeper out a bit, and took a shot goalwards on the turn... the keeper was beaten, but the ball went just over the bar. Sunil banged on the grass in frustration.

In the last few moments Kyrgyzstan lunged forward again and again, overwhelming Indian defence with numbers. On the last minute of added time, Lux came the closest with a volley, but Gurpreet managed to deflect it for a corner. 

All of the Kyrgyzstand team rushed to the Indian box for the final corner before full time, including the keeper. But after an intense few seconds of half-clearances and headers, the long whistle finally came. India had made it eight out of eight, and they had secured yet another memorable victory against a tough opponent.

It wasn't the perfect game. It didn't even mean that Kyrgyzstan were necessarily the worse team on the pitch. But what stood out was the spirit shown by Team India. They fought through the pressure periods early in both halves and recovered, defended with body and soul, and when push came to shove, took that one crucial chance that secured them the three points, courtesy the usual suspect Sunil Chhetri.

This victory has sent India to the top of the group with 6 points from 2 matches. It's a good head start in the race to UAE 2019. And there's likely to be another good bump in India's FIFA rank next month. But what matters more than all that is that the Indian players, who went through a gruelling 2016-17 season that was turbulent on and off the field, found the national team to be their ultimate platform to make a stand. The winning streak that they have produced, more than anything else, underlines the fact that despite everything, Indian football is on a path of progress.

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