IND 0-0 LBN HIGHLGHTS, Intercontinental Cup: India, Lebanon play out goalless draw

Corner for India and it has come at an important time. Thapa sends a high cross that fails to find anyone inside the box and with that comes an end to this entertaining encounter!

Brilliant delivery from Thapa off a free kick. Chhetri gets his shoulder to it but was unable to keep it on target. Another chance goes begging. The Indian captain could’ve recreated what he did last match but things are different this time. FOUR MINUTES ADDED

OUT: Darwich IN: Al Haj; OUT: Tneich IN: kourani

Mahesh from the left lets out a low-kept cross towards Chhetri, who was at the edge of the box. But the ball comes faster than expected as Chhetri fails to make it count

WHAT A MISS!! Rahim Ali misses a sitter as he tried to use his right foot.. Superb through ball from Thapa, which races through three defenders but Rahim Ali wrong foots it as the ball goes away for a goal kick

OUT: Udante IN: Chhetri; OUT: Jhinghan IN: Bieke

Thapa takes the corner. A curler came towards Anwar but he heads it away for a goal kick

Mahesh continues where he left off last match. He was a menace on the flanks and continues to be the same. Runs away past two defenders but gets intercepted eventually

OUT: Saad IN: Mahdi

Teams have opted for a quick cooling break. Meanwhile, Chhetri is all ready to come on

OUT: Sahal IN: Mahesh

OUT: Matar IN: Ali Dhaini

Farran goes down following a challenge from Akash. That makes way for a Lebanese substitution

Chhangte from the right, lets out a short lofted ball inside the box towards Udante, who recieves it awkwardly. He then tries to turn and finish but fails to keep it on target

Anwar and Akash started an Indian attack on the left flank. the latter floats one inside the box dangerously but it is cleared

The floodlights went off, creating panic inside the stadium, but was back on within a couple of minutes. Photo - Neeladri Bhattacharjee

OUT: Ashique IN: Rahim Ali

Farran’s mistake leads to an Indian attack as Ashique broke free and moved towards the box. But three defenders ambush him to clear the ball away

Superb attack from India. Udante links up to Akash on the left. The latter tries to cross it towards Thapa, who misses to connect the ball by a whisker

Corner for Lebanon. Maatouk takes it and sends in a low kept cross that troubles the Indian defense. But it is cleared away eventually

Maatouk initiates a Lebanon attack as he runs towards the box, Thapa marks him to perfection and forces him to the right side. Akash then pockets him and takes it away for a corner. Nothing comes off it

Jeakson starts things off as both the teams change sides. Meanwhile, Sunil Chhetri is warming up on the sidelines and the crowd goes crazy

And that’s the end of this entertaining first 45 minutes. Two missed chances from India, the first from Thapa and the next by Ashique, keeps the scoreboard unchanged. But the results tonight won’t matter as the final is already fixed between these two teams following Mongolia’s loss to Lebanon!

Wonderful sliding tackle from Jeakson. He slides it towards a running Udante but Ayoub does well to intercept the Indian. TWO ADDED MINUTES

Thapa lofts one inside the box, Sandhesh tried to head it in but there was too much elevation and the Indian skipper fails to control the ball

Ayoub gets yellow carded as he handballs a through ball that came towards an unmarked Ashique

Two Indians slip to give away possession. Saad gets the ball inside the box, tried to play a short ball but a brilliant clearance from Nikhil keeps the ball out of play. Superb defense from India so far

Akash from the left crosses into the box but Darwich heads it out for a throw

Free kick for India and it’s just outside the box.Udante looks set to take it. Instead, Chhangte takes it and the left footed curler goes outside. Took a deflection off the wall but the referee fails to notice it and gives a goal kick

Tneich is booked as he mistimes a sliding tackle on Sahal

Amrinder with a full length dive to save Saad’s header!

Chhangte chips one inside the box towards Udante but the number 15 is marked properly and had to back track towards Jeakson. The Indian attack ends with that move

Sahal gets booked for pushing Darwich down. With that, the players have taken a cooling break

Udante switches line of play as he finds Chhangte on the right lane. The latter then tries to clip one inside the box but it is cleared away

El Hayek lofts a long ball on the right towards Chour but Anwar intercepts perfectly

Saad gives away a free kick for India after his rash challenge on Thapa. The Lebanese puts on a protest in front of the referee. He gets lucky as he is let off with just a warning

ANOTHER CHANCE GOES BEGGING! Ashique gets an excellent ball inside the box, he shoots but it goes straight to Sabeh!

Thapa intercepts a pass inside the opposition’s half. Plays a through ball inside the box towards Ashique but the latter gets marked perfectly as the ball goes to Sabeh

Another setpiece situation for Lebanon as India concedes a free kick. Skipper Maatouk floats one inside the box, but the Indian defense, orchestrated by Jhinghan, does well to no allow any of the Lebanese players to advance towards the ball

Setpiece opportunity for Lebanon. A curler came in dangerously but a good clearance from the Indian defense keeps its opposition at bay

Tneich is down injured after two other players challenged for a ball, including his own teammate. Sahal kick found Tneich’s back but the referee lets him off with a warning

Ashique links up Akash on the left flank, who tried to cross it in but it gets deflected away for a corner. Thapa takes it, decides to go short but that doesn’t yield results

Mishra miscues a short ball and that leads to a Lebanon attack as Farran gained possession and went towards the box. But Indian defenders converge onto him and clear it away from danger

India with a bit of back tracking. The ball is back to keeperAmrinder, who finds Anwar. The latter tried to play a long ball into the box but Sabeh catches it without trouble

Chhangte gets the ball in the middle and he tried to lift it into the box quickly but no one is there to recieve it

An attack from Lebanon on the left flank. Skipper Chour runs towards a through ball that was moving towards the final third but Thapa’s challenge stops the attack. He’s let off with a warning

CHANCE!! Anirudh Thapa has missed a sitter here! Perfectly set up by Chhangte inside the box, it was just him and the keeper, Sabeh, in close quarters but he somehow flicks it away for a goal kick

Chour tries an ambitious shot from afar but fails to keep it low as the ball flies into the stands

India will get the ball rolling, will start left to right

The players have taken the field and it’s now time for national anthems. Lebanon’s anthem plays first. Sandesh Jinghan will lead the men in blue while Maatouk is Lebanon’s captain

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Chettri, who has collected 135 national caps and scored 86 international goals in a career spanning 18 years, feels that a footballer is relevant till the point he is able to give his best on the field. CLICK TO READ THE FULL STORY

Lebanon (99)

India (101)

Vanuatu (164)

Mongolia (183)

When does the Intercontinental Cup match between India and Lebanon start?

The Intercontinental Cup match between India and Lebanon will start at 7:30pm IST on Thursday at the Kalinga stadium.

Where can I watch the Intercontinental Cup match between India and Lebanon?

The Intercontinental Cup match between India and Lebanon can be live streamed on Disney+ Hotstar and JioCinemas. The match will also be telecast live on Star Sports 2 and Star Sports 2 HD TV channels in India.

India will be looking to extend its successful run at home when it meets the statistically strongest opponent Lebanon in the final league round of the Intercontinental Cup at the Kalinga Stadium here on Thursday.

India sealed a berth in the final when it beat Vanuatu by a solitary goal in the second round to secure its second successive win of the tournament. Despite becoming irrelevant in terms of qualifying for the final, the match against Lebanon becomes important for India as it will be counted as an official tie and fetch important ranking points if it is able to get the better of the higher-ranked opponent. Lebanon is currently ranked 99 compared to India’s 101 in the FIFA rankings.

India head coach Igor Stimac set the priorities for his team, which struggled to beat 164-ranked Vanuatu in its previous outing. His decision to rotate his players fielding nine names from the bench did not fetch him many rewards as the side struggled to find the rhythm and stuttered in its approach in the striking zone.

“We are playing at home and are coming out in every game looking for a win. I can say it is going to be an interesting, if not beautiful, game when we meet Lebanon,” Stimac cautioned against the technically toughest challenge his team will be facing. “We have tried all the 22 players except the third goalkeeper. So in the current situation we will have the screening process and see who are the fittest players to take the field and win against Lebanon,” he added. This will be its eighth straight win at home if India can beat Lebanon.

“Three of their foreign-based players are joining the side ahead of the match against us. So it will be a different Lebanon that we will be facing,” Stimac cautioned. “Hence we planned to rest the best players, give them recovery time and get them to perform well against better sides,” Stimac said about his decision to rotate his side in the previous match.

Lebanon finds itself in a tricky position after its goalless draw against Mongolia in the previous match. Lebanon now needs a point (which will take its tally to five) against India to reach the final. But if Mongolia beats Vanuatu in the earlier match of the day, a defeat for Lebanon will see it tied with the Mongols on points and the decision on who will be the next team to reach the final will rest on goal difference.

“India is the best challenge for us in this tournament, and we really need to improve our level for that game. We are still not qualified for the final since things still depend on the Mongolia-Vanuatu match and our game with India. It’s been tough playing every three days in such weather, but we knew of the conditions before arriving here and will give our best,” said Lebanon head coach Aleksandar Ilic.

-Amitabha Das Sharma