Mumbai: Inspirational Indian captain Sunil Chhetri scored a brace Sunday to put himself on par with Lionel Messi and lead the home side to Intercontinental Cup title triumph with a 2-0 win over Kenya in the summit clash here.
Playing in his 102nd international match, Chhetri struck in the eighth and 29th minutes to hand a dominant India the trophy to the wild celebration of the home fans at the Mumbai Football Arena.
The 33-year-old Chhetri’s double strike capped a brilliant tournament which saw him score eight out of India’s 11 goals and put him on par with Argentine superstar Messi with 64 strikes for the country to be the joint second
It’s unfair to compare myself with Messi and Cristiano. I am a big fan of both. They are much bigger stars. I just want to score as many goals as possible for my country
Sunil Chhetri
Portuguese superstar Cristiano Ronaldo is leading the chart with 81 goals from 150 matches. Chhetri and Messi are currently in joint 21st in the all-time list of goal scorers, led by Ali Daei of Iran (109 goals in 149 games).
Chhetri gave India the lead off a set-piece, assisted by Anirudh Thapa after Kenyan defender Bernard Oginga gave away a silly free-kick to India for a high-boot on Chhetri after throw in by Pritam Kotal. The 20-year-old Thapa took the free-kick just outside the box and Chhetri connected the ball into the left-corner of the net.
The talismanic Indian captain doubled the lead just before the half hour mark. Anas Edathodika lofted the ball to Chhetri who controlled the ball nicely on his chest between Kenyan defenders Jockins Atudo and Micheal Kibwage before firing in a low left-footer from inside the box which gave absolutely no chance to keeper Patrick Matasi.