Intercontinental Cup: Clinical India take on Lebanon next, eye top-100 spot

Sunil Chhetri, Sandesh Jhingan during a training session (Pic: @IndianFootball/Twitter)

Upbeat India are all set to square up against a higher-ranked Lebanon with an aim to break into top-100 in FIFA rankings, in their last round-robin clash of the Intercontinental Cup on Thursday.

The Blue Tigers have sealed a spot in the final with wins over Mongolia and Vanuatu, which will serve as a prelude to Sunday's summit clash for the Igor Stimac-coached side. However, a win against Lebanon will see India overtake the Cedars and break into the top-100 again.

Incidentally, India's Intercontinental Cup triumph in its inaugural edition in 2018 also saw them break into top-100 the last time. India had achieved their best-ever FIFA rankings of 94 in February 1996 in the golden era of Bhaichung Bhutia and IM Vijayan. As for Lebanon, it's a do-or-die opportunity after failing to beat Mongolia.

A draw will be enough for Aleksandar Ilic's side to set up a rematch against the hosts in the final, but should Mongolia beat Vanuatu in the earlier kick-off, a defeat will see the equation coming down to goal difference.

Also Read: Intercontinental Cup 2023: Skipper Chhetri's late strike helps India beat Vanuatu

"We're playing at home, and we come out in every game with the only aim of winning it. It doesn't matter how Lebanon fared in their previous game. They found it tough to play two games at four in the afternoon. For us, it's going to be a difficult match, as some of their players have enormous quality. They do have weaknesses also, of course, which we could see. So, it will be an interesting game, maybe not beautiful, but definitely interesting," said Stimac.

India are yet to concede a goal in the tournament but they have struggled to score up front as well.

It took a brilliant strike from Sunil Chhetri late in the 80th minute to seal the game against little-known Vanuatu on Friday.

"Many things were not as I wanted them to be, and we will work on them. But many things were beautiful as well, which we could enjoy. It's important to break teams down early because as time progresses, it gets tougher and tougher. We saw that in Lebanon's game against Mongolia as well," Stimac added.

With a much closer contest on the cards against India, the Cedars know they will have to make the most of every opportunity.

"India are 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," the Lebanon coach signed off.

(With PTI inputs)