Sunil Chhetri scored two goals against Thailand to take his Asian Cup tally to four overall. The Bengaluru FC man struck twice against the War Elephants to consign the South Asians to a 4-1 defeat.

A first half penalty was followed by a strike from the edge of the box at the start of the second half, giving India a lead that they would not relinquish. Following the win, Chhetri spoke to the AIFF’s media team about the win, Ashique Kuruniyan and his goal-scoring record.

Excerpts:

Did you foresee this day on your debut against Pakistan in 2005?

Never. Not even in my wildest fantasies, I thought that this would happen to me. Playing for my country the very first time was so enjoyable, memorable and nothing less than a great honour. But, I never thought that I would go on to play so many games and score goals for India.

What’s the secret behind your goal-scoring form?

There is no secret behind these results. I am blessed to have played the game with the best of the teammates – both for all my clubs and country. Both in Bengaluru FC and India, everyone helps me out. They support me and that is very important. I just try to continue doing the best for the team and the result follows.

What is the secret to your fitness?

There is absolutely no secret. You have to just work hard and make sure you train well. Most importantly you need to eat and sleep well. The fact that I love playing Football, and playing for my country drives me to push further. I think I am undergoing the phase when I’m the fastest, fittest in my life. I don’t think age is a barrier for me.

Has the win sunk in already? How did you guys enjoy the victory?

We did nothing to enjoy. It’s just about sticking to the routine. We had the recovery sessions, and now the gym. It’s not done yet and nothing has been achieved so far. It was a decent win but just one win, no more or no less.

What’s the plan ahead?

We have to focus for the 10th, the match against hosts UAE. It will be a very difficult game. If you ask me – without taking anything from Thailand, the least difficult one among the three matches was against them.

The most difficult game one will be against the UAE and lest we forget, Bahrain will be equally tough for us. We are concentrating on the next one now and we need to give a good account of ourselves.

Ashique was deployed in a new role yesterday. How do you analyse his performance?

Pretty good, I must say. It was a new position for him as he generally does not play as a striker. But he worked really hard. Jeje is the talisman for us. He is probably one of the main reasons why we have reached the Asian Cup finals. So it was quite a task for him to fill in Jeje’s shoes.

Before the Asian Cup, you told that defenders have a tough task to cut out. How did our boys fare last night?

It was a top-notch performance by everyone. Right from Gurpreet, Subhasish, Anas, Sandesh, Pritam – everyone was so good. At times, the whole team dig deep to defend, but these four guys have been really solid at the back

Personally, you have ticked many a box for the National team. What next for you?

I don’t think anything about personal achievements at the moment. It’s all about the team and we need to focus on keeping a clean sheet against UAE.

You have surpassed Messi in the highest scoring active player’s list. Isn’t this particular record a special one for you?

No record for me now. After 10 years, probably, when we’ll sit with a drink in our hand will talk about records. (laughs).