Muristek
Kolkata, June 14
Told to hang up his boots after a medical condition, Anwar Ali's persistence and optimism in the face of seemingly insurmountable odds paid rich dividends here today.
Thanks to goals from Anwar, Sunil Chhetri, Manvir Singh and Ishan Pandita, India capped off their AFC Asian Cup qualification campaign in style, sweeping aside a strong Hong Kong side 4-0 under heavy rains at the Salt Lake Stadium.
Igor Stimac's side brought out their top game on a stormy night and started off with a blitz as Anwar (2nd minute) and Chhetri (45th) gave India a 2-0 lead in the first half.
India's captain Sunil Chhetri was on target for the third consecutive time in the tournament. PTIIt was then a tale of super-subs as Manvir (85th) and Pandita (90+3rd) came off the bench to complete the rout and help India top Group D with nine points after three wins on the trot. Hong Kong finished second with six points.
The Blue Tigers raced to a 1-0 lead with the 21-year-old centreback Anwar scoring his maiden international goal four years after his career nearly ended on health grounds.
The 2017 Under-17 World Cup star, whose career had been put on hold after being diagnosed with a rare heart disease (Hypertrophic Myocardiopathy), scored after a melee in from of the goal.
The versatile defender, playing alongside Sandesh Jhingan, not only made his presence felt in the backline but also made some fluid moves up front.
The talismanic Chhetri doubled the lead just before the break from a 30-yard freekick to bring up his fourth goal of the tournament.
Jeakson Singh floated in a brilliant free-kick as the skipper controlled it brilliantly with a deft first touch before calmly slotting it home to notch up his 84th international strike that saw him go level with Hungarian great Ferenc Puska in the chart for the all-time leading international scorers. He also entered the top-five international goal-scorers' list.
The Indian icon is just two goals behind Argentine superstar Lionel Messi among the active players with Portuguese Cristiano Ronaldo leading with 117 goals.
India stretched their lead late in the second half. Brandon Fernandes initiated the move from the right and played a quick one-two with Roshan Singh before Manvir found the target. On song, India attacked on the counter and a cross from the right from Manvir was converted by Pandita.
More than eight hours before their face-off, both the teams had already secured berths at the Asian Cup Finals, courtesy Palestine's 4-0 win over Philippines who were eliminated after finishing as the worst runners-up from the six groups.
Meanwhile, Malaysia handed Bangladesh a 4-1 thrashing in Kuala Lumpur to join Bahrain in securing qualification to the finals.
Bahrain sealed top spot in Group E with a 1-0 win over Turkmenistan, while Malaysia claimed one of the five berths available to the best runners-up in the preliminaries with their comprehensive win over Bangladesh. — Agencies