India’s inaugural Hero Intercontinental Cup campaign kick-started with a stunning 5-0 victory over Chinese Taipei at the Mumbai Football Arena on Friday. Once again, captain Sunil Chhetri proved to be the man for the occasion as he bagged his first hat-trick in eight years for the national side. Alongside him, Udanta Singh and Pronay Halder also got their name on the scoresheet by registering their maiden international goals, making it a one-sided affair. It did turn out to be a night of firsts, as Anirudh Thapa, Subhasish Bose and Ashique Kuruniyan earned their debut cap for the Blue Tigers.

After the thumping victory, India’s head coach Stephen Constantine was present to address the media at the post-match press conference. He began by expressing his delight over his team’s performance throughout the 90 minutes, “I thought we played quite well. Today everything clicked and everything went well. The boys gave everything they had and looked so much sharper. There were also some very encouraging performances from the young players.”

The Englishman was also pleased with the work put in by Halder, who scored the goal of the game with a sublime curling effort from the edge of the box. “Pronay had a few injuries that excluded him from the camp, but he reminds me of myself when I was a younger player. He is very aggressive, sometimes a bit too much and he needs to learn to control himself. But today he was superb and he is a destroyer. I am pleased that he got the goal, it was a fantastic strike. I am happy with the team’s performance and now I am just thinking of the next game,” he shared.

Hat-trick hero Chhetri was also present at the press conference and shed some light on the almost telepathic understanding he shares with fellow strike partner Jeje Lalpekhlua. “It comes with the fact that we have played so many games together. Obviously, he is supremely talented and very experienced now. He is somebody whom I respect a lot and he is one of our best players,” he said.

From Chinese Taipei’s end, head coach Gary White took questions from the media. White was evidently disappointed with the final result, but stressed on the fact that his troops had to learn from the defeat. “I don’t know if it is a reality check. You have got to put it into context. There is a lot of work to be put in by the youngsters. They have got to learn how to play,” he stated.