IND 1-0 VAN, Intercontinental Cup HIGHLIGHTS: Chhetri scores as India edges past Vanuatu

And with that comes an end to this match. In a match full of missed opportunities, India and Stimac will be happy with the result. Skipper Chetri rose for the occasion to hand a win his nation, which is on a four-match cleansheet streak!

Player of the match: Sunil Chhetri

An attack broke out from Vauatu. Saniel runs towards the ball with Shubhashish challenging him and the former pushes the Indian down. Free-kick for India

Four added minutes this time as well

OUT: Chhetri IN: Rahim

The Indian skipper comes off to a standing ovation and deservedly so. Time and again, the man has stepped up for his nation and tonight is one of those

Chhangte puts in a cross inside the box, Thapa tries to put it in and tests Kalotang but it gets blocked

CHHETRI SCORES TO GIVE INDIA THE LEAD!!! Shubashish on the left flank floated a cross into the box and found Chhetri, who smacks it to the top right corner. A celebration follows and he dedicates this goal to his wife in the stands

CHANCE!! Mahesh, as lethal as ever on the flanks, floats in a cross from left towards Thapa, who shoots but gets deflected away. Brilliant defending from Vanuatu

Finally an attack from Vanuatu. Taiwia lets out a long lofted ball towards Saniel but it gets intercepted for a corner. Nothing comes off it

India has a whopping 18 shots on target compared to Vanuatu’s 3. Speaks volumes about the domination However, none of those 18 were able to penetrate the goal. Also shows how compact Vanuatu’s defense has been so far

OUT: Nandakumar, IN: Chhangte

OUT: Wohale, IN: Taiwia

OUT: Mahesh IN: Thapa, OUT: Rohit IN: Jackson, OUT: Rowlin, IN: Sahal

CHANCE! Mahesh puts in a cross into the box, Kalotang misjudges it and the ball goes to Chhetri, who heads it wide!

Superb long bal from Liston finds Chhetri inside the box, he tries to shoo but is cramped for space by two defenders. He finally lets a shot out but gets deflected. Nanda takes a shot on the rebound but that’s blocked as well

Thapa gets ready to enter the field. Substitution around the corner from Stimac

Corner for India as Mahesh’s cross gets deflected out. Liston to take the corner. Poor take from him as the ball travels high and out of bounds

Preetam on te right tries to initiate an attack and flicks it towards Nanda on near the box but he gets cut off

Chhettri showcases his skills. A superb first touch to find Nanda on the volley, the latter tried to go past the defense but skipper Kaltack puts in perfect interception

India tracks back towards the defenders, Jinghan and Kotal take control of the ball and maintains possession for a while but fails to convert it into an attack

Tene gets the ball rolling as the teams change sides

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The ref blows the whistle and its the end of the first 45 minutes at the Kalinga stadium.

CHANCE! Vanuatu had the opportunity to take the lead but Saniel couldn’t keep it on target

Important tackle from Gurpreet who comes out of the box to take the ball away from Tenene, who was unmarked

Four added minutes

Brilliant play between Liston, Nanda and Mahesh. Mahesh finds Liston inside the box, who links Nandakumar up. Nanda tries a one-two with Liston but that closes the scoring window as defenders converge on the two of them

With the half-time break approaching quickly, India starts to press desparately. Mahesh on the right, crosses it towards Chhetri inside the box but the ball travels agonisingly close to the Indian as he tried to head it home!

CHANCE! Liston finds Kota on the right, he sends one inside the box towards Chhetri, Kalotang dives but spills the ball after a collision with teammate. Timothy eventually clears it out of the box

Free kick for Vanuatu. Soromon will take it. He floats in a lofted long ball into the box but Gurpreet runs forward and punches he ball out of the danger area

SQUANDERED! Cross run from Nandakumar and Chheri confuses the defense, Mahesh plays a beautiful through ball that bisects defenders and goes to Nandakumar, who shoots it wide!

Rohit on the right plays it to Nandakumar but a strong defense from Thomas ends the attack

SAVED! First shot on target for India and it was a long ranger from Liston from the left Kalotang didn’t have to do much as the ball went straight to him but a charge from Chhetri puts the keeper under pressure but he collects the ball eventually

Timothy’s sliding tackle leaves Mahesh on the ground and the referee plays an advantage. Another failed tackle from Vanuatu leads to stoppage of the game. The referee lets Timothy off the hook with just a warning

Slight showers pouring at the Kalinga stadium as both the sides take a cooling break

Shubhashish finds Nandakumar and starts an Indian attack. The latter then tries to find Liston on the left, who is eventually caught offside

Mahesh finds Chhetri in the middle, who links it to Nandakumar on the right. He takes the ball adjacent to the box and gives it to Chhetri. He tries to find one of his thre teammates at th edge of the box but gets intercepted

Brilliant run from Jonathan on the right as he advances into the final third. He tricks past Shubhashish and tries to score from a tight angle but fails to get a shot on target

Mahesh’s ambitious attempt gets deflected and goes near Chhetri, who sets it up for Liston to take the shot and he does just that but the ball is no where near the target

Counter from Vanuatu. Saniel from his own half, puts a superb through ball towards Coulon but the pass is overcooked and run runs away for a goal kick

CHANCE! A long ball comes towards Bose on the left, he moves past Timothy and advances into the box. Lets out a short pass towards Sekar, whose shot gets blocked. A debut goal was staring straight at him, he could’ve done better

Jonathan rattles the Indians as he dribbles past three defenders on the right flank. But Rohit’s proactive interception keeps him at bay

Fluid attack from India. Sekar gets possession and changes the line of play to find Mahesh on the right. He puts it towards Chhetri and a cross comes into the box. The Vanuatu defense clears it

Throw in for India as Kotal’s cross is deflected outside. Jinghan tries to find someone but Timothy intercepts and clears

Sekar links up to Bose onthe left flank, who tries to cross into the box but slips and makes it easier for Kalotang to save it

Corner for Vanuatu, Sormon opts for a short ball. A searching cross comes inside the box, Thomas tries to put it past Gurpreet but gets intercepted

Superb long ball, towards Nandakumar, he recieves it perfectly despite a challenge and then finds Chhetri at the edge of the box. The Indian skipper tries one from long range but gets deflected off a defender

Both the sides are fighting for posession but aren’t able to keep the ball as much as they would like

India gets the ball rolling, will start left to right. Vanuatu starts off slow as the players back track into their half

The players have lined up inside the tunnel and are ready to take the field. Sunil Chhetri will lead India while Kaltack is Vanuatu’s skipper.

Time for national anthems. Vanuatu’s anthem plays first at the Kalinga stadium

Lebanon (99)

India (101)

Vanuatu (164)

Mongolia (183)

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Indian forward Ishan Pandita will be out of the squad for India’s second match in the Intercontinental Cup and is doubtful for the remainder of the tournament. READ MORE

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

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

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

The Intercontinental Cup match between India and Vanuatu 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 seeking to continue its winning form as it meets Vanuatu in the second round of the Intercontinental Cup league fixtures, at Kalinga Stadium on Monday.

India had the better of Mongolia in the opening round which it won by a comfortable 2-0 margin. For the island nation Vanuatu, the start was not ideal as it went down 1-3 to Lebanon. With the top two teams in the league standings scheduled to play the final, a win against 164th-ranked Vanuatu will be taking India close to the title round.

India’s head coach Igor Stimac sounded satisfied with the way his team performed against Mongolia to bring up its sixth consecutive win at home (the count starts with India’s qualification to the Asian Cup last year). “We have more games this month and I am certain that all the hard work the boys are putting on the pitch is fetching them the rewards,” Stimac said of India’s chances in the ongoing tournament and in the upcoming SAFF Championship later this month.

“It is not an easy task as the boys braved the intense heat and humidity (of Bhubaneswar) and underwent three weeks of training without any complaint,” he added.

Much like Mongolia, Vanuatu will be playing its first match against India.

“We knew it would be difficult but we had a good game against Lebanon. Being here is a great experience for the Vanuatu team. We have never played teams like India, Lebanon and Mongolia before. It is always challenging to play in Asia,” said the Vanuatu head coach Etienne Mermer after his team’s first outing in the tournament.

The Oceania country is not new to Indian colts as an under-18 side toured Vanuatu in 2019 and beat the host 1-0 en route to winning an OFC youth development tournament in its capital Port Vila. From the current squad of the senior Indian team, left-back Akash Mishra is the only player from that junior side that had travelled to the Southern Pacific nation.

Making his assessment of Vanuatu from its opening match against Lebanon, the Indian head coach felt that his boys will have to contend against a physically robust side.

“What we saw in Vanuatu’s game against Lebanon, it is obvious that they are a physical side. They have their strengths and weaknesses, so we need to get ready for such a game,” Stimac said.

-Amitabha Das Sharma