Chettri’s brace help India to beat Portuguese side

FATIMA - Sunil Chettri scored a brace as India defeated second division Portugese side União Desportiva da Serra 3-1 in a practice football match here at Pope John Paul II Stadium.

Sushil Kumar Singh struck the third goal. União Desportiva da Serra midfielder Pedro scored the second goal of the match, cancelling out Chettri’s first strike and levelling the score in the match played Wednesday.

India started off impressively and made numerous inroads in the opponent citadel. Their hard work paid off in the 35th minute when Chettri, who is coming back from a stint with Kansas City Wizards, headed in Anthony Pereira’s cross from the left flank.

India successfully held their one-goal advantage and went for the breather with a 1-0 lead.

India made three changes prior to the start of second session. Clifford Miranda came in for Steven Dias, while Mehrajuddin Wadoo made his way in the midfield replacing Climax Lawrence. Abhishek Yadav joined Chettri up front replacing inform striker Mohammed Rafi.

In the second half, Yadav suffered a knee injury and coach Bob Houghton was forced to replace the striker by Sushil.

India gave away the lead in the 56th minute conceding a spot kick, on which Pedro made no mistake to bring the host back into the match.

Chettri was soon in thick of action and completed his brace heading in Sushil’s cross in the 75th minute to put India back in the lead. Five minutes later, Sushil headed in James Singh’s flag-kick to seal an impressive victory for India.