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Bob Houghton’s men played Portuguese Second Division side Sertanense FC on Tuesday at the Almeirim Stadium. The men in blue won the match 3-2 with Kansas City forward Sunil Chhetri scoring two goals. The Indians got off to a good start as striker Sunil Chhetri started the proceedings with the first goal of the match coming as early as the 14th minute with a neat finish from the 26-year-old forward off a Mohammed Rafi pass.
India doubled the lead in the 22nd minute and once again it was Chhetri who headed the ball over the head of the Sertanense goalkeeper off a Subrata Paul free kick. However, the celebrations were ephemeral as the Portuguese side pulled one back seven minutes later. The score at the half-time mark was 2-1 with India in the lead.
After the break, the Portuguese Second Division side scored the equalizer in the 59th minute to get back in the game. The men in blue showed some perseverance and put pressure on the home side. Eventually their efforts yielded the desired result as N.P. Pradeep scored the winner off Anthony Pereira’s pass in the 77th minute to settle the deal and give India its sixth win of the Portugal training tour.
India 3 – 2 Sertanense FC
India Starting XI: Subrata Paul, Surkumar Singh, Gouramangi Singh, Anwar, N.S. Manju, Anthony Pereira, Climax Lawrence, N.P. Pradeep, Rahim Nabi, Sunil Chhetri and Mohammed Rafi
Substitutes: Mehrajuddin Wadao, Baldeep Singh and James Singh