Intercontinental Cup 2023: Sunil Chhetri's brilliance helps India sink Vanuatu
India defeated Vanuatu 1-0 in the 2023 Intercontinental Cup at the Kalinga Stadium in Bhubaneswar. A goal from Sunil Chhetri was the difference between the two teams on the night. The hosts looked good in patches but they were very ineffective in the penalty area. They had the lion's share of possession but hardly had any end product to their build-ups. Here's more.
Nine changes from the Mongolia win
India played well in their 2-0 win over Mongolia in the opening fixture. However, in order to try out new players, Stimac made nine changes to that team. Only Chhetri and Sandesh Jhingan kept their place. Stimac brought in Gurpreet Singh Sandu, Subhashis Bose, Pritam Kotal, Mehtab Singh, Liston Colaco, Rowllin Borges, Mahesh Singh, and Rohit Kumar. Nandhakumar Sekar was handed his debut.
50th international appearance for Sandesh Jhingan
Indian veteran defender Jhingan registered his 50th international cap for the Blue Tigers. He is the 12th Indian footballer to register 50-plus appearances for India. Chhetri leads the pack with 134 appearances, whereas Bhaichung Bhutia is second with 80 appearances. Climax Lawrence is in third spot having played 72 matches for India. Only Chhetri and Gurpreet (57) are ahead of Jhingan.
How did the match pan out?
Unlike the last match, India started slowly against Vanuatu. India's attacking trio of Chhetri, Nandha and Mahesh were keeping their defenders busy throughout the first half. Nandha had a brilliant chance when Mahesh had released him on the counter but the former's shot was way off target. Vanuatu kept on frustrating India until Chhetri came up with some brilliance in the 80th minute.
Chhetri slams his 86th international goal for India
Once again, when India were in dire straits, it was Chhetri who stepped up and scored the winner. This was his 86th international goal for the Blue Tigers. He is the fifth-highest goal-scorer in men's football. Only Cristiano Ronaldo (122), Ali Daei (109), Lionel Messi (102), and Mokhtar Dahari (89) are ahead of him. This was also his 12th goal in the Intercontinental Cup.
Mongolia held Lebanon to a 0-0 draw
Mongolia, who lost the first match against the hosts 2-0, have fought back with a 0-0 draw against Lebanon. They are still alive in the competition with their third match scheduled against Vanuatu. Meanwhile, Vanuatu, with this defeat, are out of the top-two race. India will lock horns against Lebanon in the final group-stage clash, having already secured their place in the title clash.
Did you know?
Vanuatu skipper Brian Kaltak, who won the 2022-23 A-League with the Central Coast Mariners in Australia was named in the A-League Team of the Season. Notably, he signed a contract with the Australian outfit in 2022, which was his first professional contract as a footballer.
