'Like he never left'; Indian legend Sunil Chhetri scores on return from retirement

SHILLONG: Sunil Chhetri made a fairytale return to the Indian team scoring the final goal as India won 3-0 in an international friendly against Maldives on Wednesday. Rahul Bheke scored India's first goal in the 34th minute and Liston Colaço in the 66th minute. Chhetri's goal came in the 76th minute.

Sunil Chhetri received a standing ovation from the Shillong gallery as he entered the field wearing the captain's armband. The Maldives defence struggled to clear a cross from Chhetri to Liston in the second half. Liston took time to locate Chhetri and made a scintillating cross for the veteran Indian player to nick the ball into the net, despite being tightly marked by Maldives' defence. The crowd erupted in applause when India’s leading goal scorer made it into the scoresheets again.

In the 32nd minute, Rahul Bheke headed a corner kick taken by Brandon but it went over the post. However, two minutes later, Bheke found the net from a corner taken by Liston. Despite several Indian advances until the end of the first half, the scoreboard did not budge from 1-0.

In the second minute of the second half, Mahesh's corner was headed by Chhetri, but the Maldives goalkeeper saved it. Immediately afterwards, Farooq and Chhetri's combined moves made the opposing defence run for their money.

Chhetri retired on June 6, 2024, after a goalless draw with Kuwait in the World Cup qualifying round but decided to come out of it during the last weeks.

India's next match is against Bangladesh in the AFC Asian Cup qualifying round on March 25.