Intercontinental Cup 2023: India Sink Lebanon in Final to Clinch Title at Kalinga Stadium – News18

India lifted the Intercontinental Cup by defeating Lebanon 1-0 in the final of the tournament in Kalinga Stadium on Sunday.

Skipper Sunil Chhetri struck in the 46th minute to open the scoring before Lallianzuala Chhangte netted in the 65th minute to beat the Lebanese 2-0 in the summit clash to lift the trophy.

Both teams got off to a jumpy start as the players seemed to be feeling he pressure of the summit clash.

But, India seemed to have set in well as they launched promising attacks early in the game, but couldn’t exploit the danger area as they would have wanted as a couple of good link-up plays came to nothing.

Ashique Kurunian seemed energetic right from the start and did well to latch onto a through ball on the left, and it seemed like India were going to be awarded a penalty after he went to ground following what looked like a contact in the box, but the referee waved play on, much to the visible displeasure of Indian coach Igor Stimac.

Abdul Sahal Samad looked lively as he came up with some brilliant bit of footwork inside the box to create trouble for the Lebanese inside the box. But his eventual cross-in, aimed at Chhetri, was sniffed out and cut by the visitors’ back line.

Lebanon had a couple of chances from a couple of corners in the first half but couldn’t make them count as the Indian backline was alert to the danger and got the ball out of harm’s way before the Lebanese chance could materialise into something solid.

The teams headed into the tunnel at halftime with the scores all level at nil-nil as neither unit was able to breach the defence of the other.

The second half got off to an electric start as India came off the blocks incredibly quickly to get the lead through skipper Chhetri.

Nikhil Poojary did well to slip the ball through the legs of a defender to play Chhangte in, who faked left before running right to create some space inside the area.

He pulled the ball back perfectly into the feet of Chhetri, who made no mistake in tapping the ball into the net to mark his 87th goal in Indian colours.

Chhangte got on the scoresheet himself in the 65th minute as he was rewarded for his hard work throughout the night.