Indian Football Skipper Sunil Chhetri continue his record-breaking performance this season after he climbed to joint 3rd position on the list of the highest active international goalscorers
With these three goals yesterday, Chhetri has overtook USA international Clint Dempsey and drew level with David Villa.
Indian skipper who had 56 goals to his name ahead of the match, didn't take much to get his scoring boots on for the team, he drew the first blood for the hosts on the 14th minute after he was played through on goal by strike partner Jeje Lalpekhlua, before he slid the ball past the Chinese Taipei's goalkeeper Wen-Chieh Pan.
This goal brought Sunil at par with Clint Dempsey on the 4th position in the list of highest active international goalscorers, while the second strike on 33rd minute of the match took him one place ahead in the list and gave India a crucial lead of 2-0 before the half time.
In the initial minutes of second half, Chhetri's Bengaluru FC teammate Udanta Singh display a very good footwork before he calmly slotted it into the bottom corner to enhance the Indian lead by 3-0.
However, Chhetri was not done yet and he came back again strongly against the Chinese Taipei's defence to slot in a third to complete his hat-trick and make the score 4-0 in the favor of Blue Tigers.
The 3rd goal of the Chhetri ensured he drew level with David Villa (59), and is only behind Real Madrid and FC Barcelona superstars Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi, who are on 81 and 64 goals, respectively.
With many matches left in this Intercontinental Cup 2018, Sunil Chhetri has the best chance to surpass David Villa and even Lionel Messi to conquer that second spot of highest active international goalscorers.
Top 5 active goalscorers in International football
1. Cristiano Ronaldo (Por) - 81
2. Lionel Messi (Arg) - 64
3. David Villa (Esp) - 59
3. Sunil Chhetri (Ind) - 59
5. Clint Dempsey (USA) - 57
The Blue Tigers will be up against the mighty Kenyans on Monday, followed by New Zealand on Thursday, before a possible cup final on June 10.