India thrash Laos 6-1, book Asian Cup qualifiers berth
Source: The Sangai Express / PTI
Guwahati, June 08 2016:
Striker Jeje Lalpekhlua scored
twice as India recovered from
a one-goal deficit to spank
Laos 6-1 in one of the biggest
ever wins and book a berth in
the 2019 AFC Asian Cup
football Qualifiers here on
Tuesday.
India were trailing 0-1 in
the 16th minute through a
Khonesavanh Sihavong
strike but replied in a re-
markable fashion,
dominating all through the
remaining part of the match,
pumping in six goals � in-
cluding three in seven
minutes � to walk away
with an easy win.
Jeje Lalpekhlua (42nd
and 74th minute), Sumeet
Passi (45th), Sandesh
Jhingan (49th), Mohd.
Rafique (83rd) and debutant
Fulganco Cardozo (87th)
were the goal-getters for In-
dia in the second leg of the
AFC Asian Cup Qualifiers
play-off match at the Indira
Gandhi Athletics Stadium.
India won the home and
away tie 7-1 on aggregate to
book a berth in the AFC
Asian Cup Qualifiers.
They
had beaten Laos 1-0 in the
first leg in Vientiane on June
2.This was one of the big-
gest ever wins for India.
They had to play in the
play-offs after finishing at
the bottom of their group in
the joint preliminary round
of the 2018 FIFA World
Cup and 2019 AFC Asian
Cup.
The victory and a berth in
the Asian Cup Qualifiers
will ease a lot of pressure
on coach Stephen
Constantine whose future
has been under a scanner
after a string of poor shows
by the national team.
India
took some time to settle
down in the match played
under slippery conditions
and Laos were the better
side in the initial 15 min-
utes.
The visiting side
created problems for the In-
dian defence from the right
flank in this period.
India
paid the price of relying on
off-side trap as Sihavong
found himself unmarked in-
side the box and he sent a
low left footer past Indian
goalkeeper Gurpreet Singh
Sandhu to the stunned si-
lence of a sparse crowd at
the stadium.
Jolted by the early re-
verse, India regrouped and
they began dictating terms
on their opponents.
Just
three minutes after the goal,
Jeje had a chance to restore
parity but his shot after a
rebound from the goalkeeper
went wide.
In the 21st minute, cap-
tain Sunil Chhetri thought he
won a penalty after he was
grounded inside the Laos
penalty box but the referee
thought differently.
The game changing mo-
ment came in the 41st minute
with coach Constantine re-
placing young Udanta Singh
by Jackichand Singh whose
introduction turned the
match on its head with India
pumping in three goals in
the space of seven minutes
to open the floodgates.
India found the equaliser
three minutes before the
break with Jackichand, in his
first touch, sent a fine cross
from the right and the ball
fell on Jeje after a dummy
was sold by Passi inside the
Laos box.
Mizoram striker
Jeje chested the ball down
before slotting home past the
Laos goalkeeper to the wild
cheer of the home support-
ers.
At the stroke of
halftime, India took the lead
with Passi, playing in his
second international match,
sending the ball into the
empty net off a low cross
from Jackichand from the
left.
This was Passi's first
international goal.
India con-
tinued their domination in
the second half with central
defender Jhingan entering
his name in the scoresheets
seven minutes after resump-
tion as his header off a
Eugenson Lyngdoh free-
kick beat the Laos defenders
and the goalkeeper all ends
up.
With a 3-1 lead, India
had taken the game away
from the visitors' reach but
they did not relax a bit and
scored three more goals
against a hapless Laos to win
the match in a tennis-like
score and with one of the
biggest margins in recent
memory.
Jeje, who has been
in the form of his life,
scored his second goal of
the match, as he received a
beautifully weighted pass
from Chhetri and sent a
powerful grounder past the
Laos goalkeeper into the
bottom left corner of the net.
Passi made it 5-1 for India
six minutes from the regula-
tion time as his shot from
the edge of the box off an-
other Chhetri assist beat the
Laos goalkeeper.
Cardoza completed the
rout and the misery for Laos
as he headed into the Laos
net off another assist from
Jackichand three minutes
before the final whistle.