India ended their Asia Cup campaign on Friday, finally playing the way they are supposed to, but when it was too late. Against Japan in the play-off for the fifth spot, they slammed in five goals, but more important than the 5-1 win was the fact that the Indian strikers finally came good in what was effectively an immaterial match.

The first goal for India came in the first minute, when Rajpal Singh deflected in a Tushar Khandker pass from the left. The last one was scored by Khandker himself — his second goal — in the last 10 seconds of the game. In between, the team got three more but could have scored at least half a dozen. Sandeep Singh and Prabhjot Singh were the ones who added their names to the scoresheet.

No pushovers

For once, the whole team came together as a unit and though the margin might indicate a one-sided contest, Japan were no pushovers. Also, there were no last-minute hitches. Instead, India pumped in three goals in the last six minutes to put the match beyond Japan.

For 60 minutes of the match, it was anyone’s game. Japan were fast, quick on counter attacks and going all out for the win. They cut down India’s lead to one goal in the 32nd minute through a deflection by Hiroki Sakamoto, making the scoreline 2-1, but that was the lone bright spot for them. Despite their best efforts, the Japanese could not breach the Indian defence. On the flip side, the tendency to keep the ball in their own half created some problems for India, as they almost repeated the mistakes they had made against China.