Chhetris first international tournament was the 2007 Nehru Cup. In the opening game, India defeated Cambodia 6–0 with Chhetri scoring two goals.[57] He also scored a goal in the 2–3 defeat to Syria[58] and another in the 3–0 win over Kyrgyzstan[59] to take his goal tally to four. Chhetri was involved in the build-up to N.P. Pradeeps decisive goal as India beat Syria 1–0 in the final to become the first champions of the tournament since 1997.[60] Later in 2007, India began their 2010 FIFA World Cup qualification campaign. They were knocked out in the first round by Lebanon with Chhetri scoring once in the away leg (a 4–1 defeat)[61] and once in the home leg (a 2–2 draw)[62] resulting in a 6–3 aggregate defeat.[63] The 2008 SAFF Championship started with three victories out of a possible three in the group stages. In the opening game, Chhetri scored a goal in a 4–0 victory over Nepal.[64] He scored once more in the championship—in the 2–1 semi-final victory over Bhutan; this was an equaliser before Gouramangi Singh scored Indias second goal to send India through to the final.[65] India lost 1–0 to the Maldives in the final and Chhetri played for the full 90 minutes.[66] Later that year, in the 2008 AFC Challenge Cup, Chhetri played in all of the matches and scored four goals. In the 1–0 win over Afghanistan, he was involved in the build-up to Climax Lawrences goal.[67] He also played for the full 90 minutes against Tajikistan (a 1–1 draw)[68] and Turkmenistan (a 2–1 win).[69] In the semi-final against Myanmar, Chhetri scored the only goal in a 1–0 victory after being assisted by Baichung Bhutia to see India through to the final.[70] In the final against Tajikistan, Chhetri scored a hat-trick which enabled India to win the Cup. This automatically qualified India for the 2011 Asian Cup, the first time they had qualified for the tournament in 24 years.[71] His first goal was originally disallowed for offside by Uzbek referee Valentin Kovalenko, who changed his mind after consulting his assistant.[72] Hundreds of fans waited outside the stadium to greet Indias new poster boy and India manager Bob Houghton stated, He is remarkable, brave and honest. He never gives up.[71] Initially, Goal stated that Chhetri would miss the 2009 Nehru Cup through injury.[73] He played in the tournament, however, and he scored in the second match of the Nehru Cup, a penalty in a 2–1 win over Kyrgyzstan,[74] this being first time he had completed a full match since getting injured before the pre-season tour of Spain with his club.[75] He featured in the other three games in the round robin stage of the tournament, including the dress rehearsal for the final against Syria, but did not score.[76][77][78] Chhetri was one of Indias scorers in the penalty shootout victory over Syria in the final after the match had ended in a 1–1 draw. He showed flashes of brilliance and scored the second goal in a 5–2 defeat at the hands of Bahrain in the 2011 Asian Cup.He also scored a goal against Asian powerhouse South Korea at the 2011 AFC Asian Cup.[79] He was named the national team Captain for the 2012 AFC Challenge Cup qualification which took place in Malaysia.On 16 November 2011 Chhetri scored in the 39th and 53rd minute for India against Malaysia in a Friendly played at the Salt Lake Stadium. The match ended 3–2 in favour of India.[80] On 11 December 2011 after scoring a goal in SAFF cups final he set a new record by scoring seven goals in a single edition of the SAFF Championship surpassing I.M.Vijayan’s record of six goals in the 97 edition. 2012 Nehru Cup On 22 August 2012 Chhetri scored a goal with a header in the added time of the first half against Syria in the first match of Nehru Cup where India won the match 2-1.[81] In the second match, which was on 25 August he scored two goals against Maldives, one goal coming from penalty where the team won 3-0.[82] In the final against fancied opponents Cameroon, Chhetri scored from a well-taken penalty kick to equalize the score at 2-2. In the ensuing penalty shootout which India won 5-4, Chhetri went as the second kick-taker from India and score
Posted on: Wed, 06 Nov 2013 03:31:53 +0000
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