SHILLONG: Sunil Chhetri justified being coaxed out of his international retirement by a beleaguered India coach Manolo Marquez with a performance on his return to the national fold, which seemed like he had never left at all. That, and a fine glancing header for his 95th career goal helped give India its first international win in over a year — after 489 days — a 3-0 scoreline against Maldives here on Wednesday.
Chhetri who started the game and stayed in the thick of things till he was substituted in the 82nd minute, helped himself to a goal in the 76th. Before that, Rahul Bheke (34) and Liston Colaco (66) had done enough to put the issue beyond Maldives’s reach.
