Sunil Chhetri in focus again as India face Afghanistan

Sunil Chhetri would look to continue from where he left against Cambodia as India face Afghanistan in their second match of the Asian Cup Qualifiers on Saturday. On an evening of missed opportunities, the 37-year-old veteran struck a goal in each half to give Igor Stimac's side all three points, ensuring the group hosts keep ahead of Hong Kong on goal difference after Jorn Andersen's team won 2-1 over Afghanistan in the first match on Wednesday. Seeking to make a second successive Asian Cup Finals, the Chhetri-led India would look to bring out their best, especially up front with the likes of Liston Colaco, Manvir Singh, Udanta Singh, Ashique Kuruniyan and Roshan Singh hoping to improving their finishing abilities.

All of them got ample opportunities but failed to make an impact as far as scoring was concerned and it was once again left to the veteran to settle the nerves with his brace that took his international tally to 82 goals, behind Cristiano Ronaldo (117) and Lionel Messi (86). "I'm tired of answering this question," Stimac said when asked about life after Chhetri. "When he's (Sunil) with us, I don't care if others are not scoring. If he's not here, then others will start scoring. Why look for someone else when he's scoring two goals every day?" he asked.

From Afghan's point of view it will be a do-or-die match and the physically stronger team would look to make it count against the Indian backline of Roshan Singh, Sandesh Jhingan, Anwar Ali and Akash Mishra, who impressed the most in their outing against Cambodia. In such a scenario, the onus would be on the attacking line-up to "kill the contest" by scoring early goals, something that buried Afghanistan against Hong Kong. The fitness of Roshan has been a