Skipper Sunil Chhetri rose to the occasion with his 87th international goal as he won the Intercontinental Cup with a 2-0 victory over Lebanon in the final here on Sunday.
Lallianzuala Chhangte scored the second goal of the evening to cap an impressive performance. This is India’s second title win in the tournament, after their victory in the inaugural edition in 2018. Korea won in 2019.
In the final phase of his career, the 38-year-old Chhetri found the back of the net in the 46th minute of the title clash to break the deadlock after play resumed after a goalless first half.
Buoyed by the lead and the support of the under-capacity crowd at the Kalinga Stadium, India consolidated their position when first goalscorer Lallinzuala Chhangte found the target in the 66th minute, much to the delight of the fans and their 99-ranked opponents. Shocked.
In hot and humid conditions, both teams had their fair share of chances in the first half, but could not capitalize on them, just as they had played out a goalless stalemate in an insignificant match two days earlier.
And while India had more ball possession – around 58 per cent – the Lebanese had seven shots on goal compared to the home team’s three, which again seemed to lack ideas in the opponent’s final third.
However, everything changed after the half time break.
First up, Chhangte pounced into the box and cut it back for Chhetri, who calmly tapped the ball past Lebanese goalkeeper Ali Sabeh from close range for the opener. The goal was the result of an excellent build-up as Nikhil Pujari managed to slip the ball through a bit of space for Chhangte, who then laid it on for his inspirational skipper.
After the opener got his tail up, the Indians looked to take home advantage and he scored the second goal through Chhangte.
After receiving a ball from Chhetri, substitute Naorem Mahesh Singh attempted to put it past the Lebanese keeper, who saved it but could not keep the ball. After returning, Chhangte doubled India’s lead.
Earlier, the Blue Tigers started on a positive note and were looking for goals but could not capitalize on the few chances that came their way. In the sixth minute, Ashiq Kurunian was brought down inside the Lebanese box and the home team immediately appealed for a penalty, but the referee was not interested, angering India’s head coach Igor Stimac.
India found themselves in an opportunity when Lebanon tried to hit on counter, but Ashiq was fouled, picked up a yellow card for the team’s sake and prevented the visitors from heading towards India’s goal. In hot and humid conditions, teams were required to have two cooling breaks.