By Akshay - March 19, 2025 10:50 PM| Match | IND vs MLD |
| League | International Friendlies |
| Date | Wednesday, 19th March 2025 |
| Time | 07:00 PM (IST) - 01:30 PM (GMT) |
Sunil Chhetri scored on his international comeback as India beat Maldives 3-0 in a friendly match played at Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium in Shillong, Meghalaya on Wednesday. Rahul Bheke scored the first goal in the 35th minute with a superb header to give India the lead. In the 66th minute, Liston Colaco scored another superb header to double the team's lead. Then in the 76th minute, Indian captain Sunil Chhetri scored the much-awaited goal with a header.
This was the first match of Chhetri, an Indian football legend who took a U-turn after retirement. It was a great boost for India before they begin their campaign in the third round of AFC Asian Cup qualification with a match against Bangladesh on March 25.
Maldives are ranked 162 in the world, 36 places below India and they will use this game to prepare themselves for their AFC Asian Cup 2027 Qualifier against the Philippines. This is the first time the Blue Tigers will be playing in Shillong and they secured a huge win.
The whistles have been blown , and India has secured their first win in 489 days. Chhetri scores on his comeback, with Rahul Bheke & Liston Colaco also helping with the lead.
India: Vishal Kaith, Rahul Bheke, Subhasish Bose, Mehtab Singh, Hmingthanmawia Valpuia Ralte, Liston Colaco, Suresh-Singh Wangjam, Brandon Fernandes, Naorem Mahesh Singh, Ayush Chhetri, Sunil Chhetri
Maldives: Hussain Shareef, Samooh Ali, Hussain Sifaau, Ahmed Numan, Haisham Hassan, Ahmed Aiham, Ibrahim Mahudhee, Mohamed Naim, Ibrahim Aisham, Hamza Mohamed, Ali Fasir
