Mumbai, June 2: Indian skipper Sunil Chhetri has joined the list of best incumbent footballers round the globe. With his hat-trick against Chinese Taipei last night, Chhetri is only behind Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi in terms of international goals score. The 33-year-old is also the first Indian striker to do so.

Exhibiting a dominating performance at the ongoing Intercontinental Cup, India crushed the inexperienced Chinese Taipei side with a 5-0 victory. The win will bolster the Chhetri-led side's chances in the upcoming bouts against Kenya and New Zealand.

Analysts claim a spree of victories in the ongoing tournament will further India's chances of leaving a mark in the AFC Asian Cup to be held in the UAE next year.

In the match last night held at Mumbai Football Arena, India's star attraction remained Chhetri. With his hat-trick, the Indian captain has taken his list of total international goals to 59.

Apart from Chhetri, striker Udanta Singh also lived up to the expectations, delivering a strong performance on the attack. Apart from creating half a dozen chances, the 20-year-old also struck one himself past the  goalkeeper.

An area for major improvement for the Indian side remains it's defence as the Taipei strikers, particularly Chao-an-Chen and William Donkin, managed to penetrate the defenders on several occasions.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Jun 02, 2018 11:26 AM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).