India win five goal thriller against Malaysia

India won a five goal thriller 3-2 against Malaysia in their second International Friendly at the Saltlake Stadium, Kolkata infront of a sadly spare crowd of around only 1,500. The win followed the one-all draw on Sunday in Guwahati.

The late equaliser on Sunday had given India confidence of being able to challenge the Southeast Asian side. The Savio Medeira coached India played positive football and dominated proceedings for most of the match. In fact, the Indians could have won by a bigger margin but once more were undone by poor finishing.

Francis Fernandes made his international debut with Subhasish Roy Chowdhury, Anwar, Debabrata Roy and Jeje Lalpekhlua back in the starting line-up. The newly put-together midfield quartett of Francis Fernandes, Baldeep Singh, Rocus Lamare and Lalrindika Ralte combined well and never allowed the rivals to settle down. Baldeep was a revelation in the heart of midfield and stayed the pivot around which India's game revolved with today's captain Syed Rahim Nabi also playing an inspirational game.

All five goals came before and after the breather. Following a Nabi free-kick an alert Sunil Chhetri beat the Malaysian defence and their keeper to give India a 39th minute lead, but the lead didn't last upto the break with Mohammed Safee Sali equalising on the stroke of half-time. Just into the second session India once more took the lead through an alert Jeje Lalpekhlua while Chhetri made it 3-1 in the 53rd minute. If one thought India would cruising to a victory then they were wrong as Mohammed Safee Sali once more reduced the deficit. But it stayed 3-2 until the end for a vital victory for India ahead of the SAFF Cup.

Coach Savio Medeira was a pleased man. "The boys played their hearts out," Savio said. "It's good to end with a victory. We did make quite a few changes in the playing XI and it paid off," Savio added. "The SAFF Championship is knocking at the door and we needed to give a chance to everyone to gauge their match temperament."

"We didn't get much time to prepare for the match but the boys rose to the occasion," Savio ended.

Star striker Sunil Chhetri has a happy man after the match, "We played well. It's a special feeling when you score for your country."

Next-up for India will be Zambia on November 29 in Goa to be followed by the SAFF Cup in December.


INDIA

33-Subhasish Roy Chowdhury; 9-Syed Rahim Nabi [C], 19-Gouramangi Moirangthem Singh, 5-Anwar (61' 14-Mahesh Gawli), 2-Debabrata Roy (62' 16-Samir Naik); 26-Francis Fernandes (71' 12-Anthony Pereira), 7-Baldeep Singh (78' 25-Jewel Raja Sheikh), 35-Rocus Lamare, 20-Lalrindika Ralte (90' 15-Clifford Miranda); 10-Jeje Lalpekhlua, 11-Sunil Chhetri (89' 18-Sushil Kumar Singh)