India beat Hong Kong 2-1 in their last match of the 2027 AFC Asian Cup qualifiers as Ryan Williams marked his debut with a sensationally worked early goal, before Akash Mishra scored a first goal of his own. Everton Camargo gave Hong Kong brief hope late on, but India were too strong for the visitors as they held on for a first win in Kochi.
With the national team returning to Kochi after a gap of 10 years and two days, a decent crowd came out to support a team playing the last of what's been an abysmal qualification campaign. They were rewarded early on when in the fourth minute, India launched a counter that saw Manvir Singh zip down the right flank and square it perfectly to Williams, who finished superbly with the outside of his right boot.
That set the tone as India troubled Hong Kong no end with their fast, interchanging front four of Williams, Manvir, Lallianzuala Chhangte and Liston Colaco. They created a couple more chances in the first half that they couldn't capitalise on. Behind them, a makeshift midfield of Anwar Ali and Apuia was put under pressure at times thanks to the cumbrousness of Anwar's movement in an unfamiliar area, but Apuia was stellar as he commanded the game for most of its duration.
They started the second half the same way they did the first, and Akash Mishra made it two just four minutes after resumption after sweeping in a second ball after chaos caused by a Rahul Bheke long throw into the Hong Kong box. It was the fullback's first goal for India, and the score appeared to do justice to India's domination thus far.
A mistake at the back, though, saw Hong Kong get one back after Everton was played in on goal with the simplest of straight through balls and he poked it beyond an advancing Gurpreet Singh Sandhu -- who had very little to do either side of the goal.
This saw a nervy ending with Ashique Kuruniyan coming on and wasting a couple of chances and India backtracking as the match wore on, but in the end, they held on for a rare win. It's the positivity India desperately needed as they enter a new cycle of World Cup and Asian Cup qualification next year.
"It's an amazing feeling," said Williams after the match as he spoke about how it had a "long, long wait" to complete his process of becoming an Indian citizen and playing for the Indian national team. As for the early goal to cap it off? "You can't write it," he said with a beaming smile. He was also hugely appreciative of the local crowd, saying, "I have been here before as an opposition player, but it's special to play in front of this support."
You can relive the match, as it happened, right here:
