India captain Sunil Chhetri produced another magical moment for the Blue Tigers with his curling free-kick goal against Afghanistan in the AFC Asian Cup qualifiers on Saturday (June 11). It was an intense contest between the two nations and Chhetri got India a 1-0 lead over Afghanistan with a stunning free-kick in the 86th minute of a crucial match in Kolkata. The Blue Tigers headed into the Afghanistan fixture with full-confidence following their 2-0 win over Cambodia in the previous fixture. Chhetri opened the scoring for the night at the Salt Lake Stadium and got India a late 1-0 lead in the match.


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Afghanistan did reply with a goal after Chhetri's goal but Sahal Abdul Samad produced a clutch moment in the extra time to hand India the crucial victory they were looking for. Igor Stimac's men defeated Afghanistan 2-1 after a hard fought contest between the two sides.


Checkout Chhetri's stunning free-kick here...



The 37-year-old's magical goal got him to a tally of 83 goals for the nation after he curled the from inside of his foot to beat the Afghanistan goal-keeper with ease in the 86th minute of the match. Notably, Chhetri's stunning free-kick goal left fans in awe on social media hailing the Indian legend.


After Chhetri's goal and Afghanistan's comeback, Udanta Singh and Sahal Abdul were brought on in the 89th minute in place of Sunil Chhetri and Manvir Singh. Later on, India's Ashique was getting closed down by the defenders but he somehow managed to slip a through ball for Sahal Abdul Samad who slotted the ball into the bottom left corner to get India all the 3 points.


India have now won consecutive matches against Camodia and Afghanistan placing them second in their AFC Asian Cup qualifiers group and will face Hong Kong next on June 14, who are currently leading the group sitting on the first position.