Indian football team produced a stunning performance to beat Thailand 4-1 in their AFC Asian Cup 2019 tournament opener at Abu Dhabi, the United Arab Emirates on Sunday.
Skipper Sunil Chhetri provided the spark with a brace, opening the floodgates for an adventurous India side which enter the continental tournament as the underdogs.
Anirudh Thapa and Jeje Lalpekhlua added the third and the fourth goals in the 68th and 80th minutes respectively to complete the route.
This is India's biggest win in the tournament. The previous best was a 3-1 win against Hong Kong in 1964.
India, with history against them, needed a big win to give themselves hopes of qualifying for the knock-outs, and a cushion of three goals might well serve it when the group stage ends.
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This was India's first victory against Thailand since the Merdeka Cup of 1986.
The win put India at the top of the points table in Group A. They are followed by Bahrain and hosts United Arab Emirates (UAE), who had played out a 1-1 stalemate in the tournament opener on Saturday.
Technically speaking, India played the perfect hit and run game against a superior team. The War Elephants have enjoyed 65 per cent possession but their poor finishing proved detrimental against an opportunistic Indian side.
