Historic moment for Indian Football at Asia Cup 2019

Team India marked a record win at the Al Nahyan stadium, Abu Dhabi on Sunday, against Thailand in its first match in the group stage.
After its best finish dating as back as to the year 1964 AFC Asian Cup, and its mere three-time appearance in the Asia Cup since then, India has made a big come back with a full-fledged team, scoring a mighty 4-1 against Thailand.

The match saw a 1-1 scoreline in the first half after Indias Sunil Chhetri scored a lead through penalty and the Thai captains header won them an equalizer.

Headed by Coach Stephen Constantine, the team saw a huge revival in the second half, further boosted by the senior players Sunil Chhetri and the centre-back Sandesh Jhingan.

"Around the 25-30 minute mark, you saw them [Thailand] pass and we just couldn't touch them. If you allow them to pass, they will keep coming and attacking," said Chhetri, who scored India's first two goals, and there by going up the stairs to become the second highest active scorer in International football with 67 goals after the Juventus forward and Portugese captain Christiano Ronaldo. "We just wanted to be brave and press high. We just didn't want to allow them to play."

The second half saw a more aggressive and energetic Indian team with Pronay Halder encouraged to hold firm in the middle, while his co-midfielder Anirudh Thapa was given more freedom to join in attack, where Chhetri's understanding with young Ashique Kuruniyan was already proving a handful for the Thai defence.

The fire-blazing play put forth by the team in the second 45 minutes helped India soar high into scoring the biggest win in the tournaments history.