Intercontinental Cup 2023: India, Lebanon play goalless draw at Kalinga Stadium

Due to their top two finish, hosts India and Lebanon will play the final on June 18 at Kalinga Stadium.

Action during the match between India and Lebanon at Kalinga Stadium. (Image: AIFF)

Bhubaneswar: India missed the chances that came their way to settle for a goalless draw with Lebanon in the Intercontinental Cup football tournament on Thursday. Head coach Igor Stimac continued his policy of making healthy changes to his starting eleven and benched a number of seniors, including striker Sunil Chhetri and goalkeeper Gurpreet Singh Sandhu.

Defensive pivot Sandesh Jhingan wore the captain’s armband in Chhetri’s absence. However, the result didn’t matter as both teams had already sealed their places in the final of the four country tournament.

Mongolia and Vanuatu were the other two teams participating in the event. Introduced in the 82nd minute, Chhetri received a perfect throw from Anirudh Thapa but the India captain couldn’t find the back of the net.

It would have been 1–0 for India within the first five minutes of the game, but after being set up by Lallianzuala Chhangte and with only the opposing goalkeeper to beat, Anirudh Thapa missed a babysitter in the fourth minute. All he could do was shoot the ball away.

Then, almost 20 minutes into the game, another chance was wasted when Ashique Kuruniyan hit the ball straight to the Lebanese goalkeeper after a good pass into the penalty area. Due to the two missed opportunities from India, the teams went into the break goalless.

In the second half it continued more or less in the same way, in which the floodlights also went out for a few minutes, as both teams failed to find the goal. Hoping to break the deadlock, both India and Lebanon introduced a few changes, but to no avail as the score remained unchanged until the final whistle.

India started their campaign last Friday with a 2-0 victory over Mongolia before beating Vanuatu 1-0 three days later on Monday. Lebanon had also started with a victory by beating Vanuatu 3-1 before playing a goalless draw against Mongolia on Monday.