India face Lebanon in Intercontinental Cup, aim to break into top-100

 Buoyant India will take on 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, here on Thursday.

In pursuit of a second title, 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.

The match is crucial for India as Lebanon are currently placed at 99 and the hosts at 101, and a win for the Blue Tigers will see them 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.

“We’re playing at home, and we come out in every game with the only aim of winning it,” said Stimac. “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,” the Croat added. 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.