Bhaichung Bhutia in action during the match against Cambodia in New Delhi on Friday. (PTI)

New Delhi: To say it was a moment of glory for Indian football would be an exaggeration, but for the sparse crowd at the floodlit Ambedkar Stadium on Friday it was an evening to remember.

Rarely do Indian football fans get an opportunity to watch the national team win by half a dozen goals, as they did in the inaugural fixture of the ONGC Nehru Cup. So what if the opponents — Cambodia — are no great shakes and No. 170 in the Fifa rankings.

Truth to tell, none had any inkling of what Bob Houghton's men, ranked 162, had in store for the visitors.

The Cambodians looked a compact side for the first quarter of an hour. India, on the other hand, were rusty and there was some tension in the stands as Indian goalkeeper Subrata Pal had to leave charge thrice to thwart Cambodia’s attacking duo.

But once the Indian midfielders managed to get a hold over proceedings, the floodgates opened. The Cambodians capitulated in the face of constant onslaughts and caved in to concede two goals before half-time.

A patchy display by skipper Bhaichung Bhutia was India's biggest problem. The midfielders — especially Pradeep and Dias — fed the forwardline regularly, but a lack of combination between Chhetri and Bhaichung proved to be the stumbling block. No wonder, even the generally composed Houghton looked a worried man.

It was left to Pradeep to take the initiative and break the deadlock. His 30-yard right-footer hit bull’s eye. It was a beauty, but didn’t surprise those who have watched the Kerala boy closely in the last two seasons.

Bhaichung scored the second goal off a penalty after he was brought down inside the box by goalkeeper Oum Veasna.

India could have doubled the tally before the change of ends, but the post came in the way of Rennedy Singh and Bhaichung.

It was a pity that only a couple of thousand fans were in the stands to watch India produce a superlative display in the second half. The Indian coach’s move to effect two changes in the 71st minute — Abhishek Yadav and Clifford Miranda replacing the ageing Bhaichung and Rennedy — worked wonders.

In the last 15 minutes, India struck four times with Chhetri and Dias netting two each.

The third goal in the 73rd minute by Man-of-the-Match Dias changed the game’s complexion. Once that angular shot beat Veasna all ends up, the visitors gave it up completely.

But Houghton was not satisfied. He was seen directing his attackers to press for more. Chhetri cut past two to score the fourth goal. Within minutes, the pint-sized local player struck again to the delight of the crowd.

Chhetri could have completed his hattrick two minutes later, but delayed in taking the shot. For once the Cambodians marked him right. But they had no answer for when Dias bulged the net a minute before the final whistle.

“Winning is a habit,” Houghton had said on Thursday. “A team which has got into the habit of winning can score many in the last 15 minutes.”

It didn’t take more than 24 hours to find out how right Houghton was.

TEAMS

India: Subrata Pal; Surkumar Singh, Mahesh Gawli, Deepak Mondal, N.S. Manju; Steven Dias, N.P. Pradeep (Mehrajuddin Wadao, 44), Climax Lawrence, Rennedy Singh (Clifford Miranda, 72); Sunil Chhetri, Bhaichung Bhutia (Abhishek Yadav, 73)

Cambodia: Oum Veasna; Chan Dara, Tieng Tiny, Om Thavrak; Thul Southearith (Kim Chan Bonrith, 62); Sun Sovannarith, Hok Sotiya (Keo Kosal, 56th); Pok Chan Than, Chan Rithy; Sam El Nasa, Teab Vathanak

Referee: Pere Hetti Kamkana Mge (Sri Lanka)

Saturday’s match: Syria vs Bangladesh

second-biggest indian triumph

India posted their second-biggest win in international matches on Friday. Following is the list of their five-goal (and bigger) margin triumphs:

• 1963 (Pre-Olympics) India bt Sri Lanka 7-0
• 2007 (Nehru Cup) India bt Cambodia 6-0
• 2001 (Pre-World Cup) India bt Brunei 5-0
• 1978 (SAF Games) India bt Maldives 5-0

Note: India’s six-goal win against Cambodia is their highest margin in the Nehru Cup