Football: Indian National Team news ...

[usaindia]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2023_Merdeka_Tournament
https://khelnow.com/football/merdeka-cu ... e-as-tourn

[usaindia]

India begin campaign with comfortable win over Mongolia
https://scroll.in/field/1050668/footbal ... r-mongolia

[jayakris]

Wow, 2 goals, and neither was by "Mr. WhoElse"... Sahad Abdul Samad and Chhangte scored. Actually Sahad has scored 3 goals in the last 5 or 6 games he has played for India. Not bad for a midfielder.

[jayakris]

#101 India beat #164 Vanuatu 1-0... 80th minute goal from "Mr. Who Else"

In a big surprise, #183 Mongolia tied #99 Lebanon 0-0. Maybe India's 2-0 win against Mongolia was not too bad. But then again, winless Vanuatu held us to 0-0 for 80 minutes too

#101 India versus #99 Lebanon for the Continental Cup on Thursday (or is there a final between the top 2 after three pool games? Can't remember).

[arjun2761]

India tied Lebanon 0-0. Decent result against a slightly higher ranked team.

[prasen9]

Final: India v Lebanon

[jayakris]

Mr. Who Else came in only in the 81st minute, so no goals from us had to be expected. One would think somebody will take the opportunity to do something at the forward position, but no .... I suppose the game plan must have been to defend all day and get a tie to make the final, anyway.

[jayakris]

The previous two matches had moved us up to #99 and Lebanon down to #101 in live rankings (FIFA's official next update after Apr 6th will only be in July), so this tie essentially kept both teams where they are now. A win on Sunday over Lebanon could help move us up again a little bit.

[usaindia]

https://iftwc.com/india-and-vietnam-set ... ting-draw/

[jayakris]

India-Lebanon final in the Hero intercontinental cup in Bhubaneshwar.

0-0 at the half time.

[jayakris]

Chhangte crosses and a nice tap-in goal by Mr. Who Else!! 1-0 we lead right after the half time. Goal #87 for Chhetri.

Update - India up 2-0 in the 66th minute!! Chhangte scores off a pass from Mahesh Singh.

Final: #101 India d. #99 Lebanon, 2-0

India is at #98 in Live rankings now. May move up a spot after this match. Quite close to our highest ranking ever

[jayakris]

Up next for us is the SAFF Cup tournament, which follows right away at Bengaluru Kanteerava stadium from this Wednesday onwards.

8 teams. Group A: India, Kuwait, Nepal, Pakistan... Group B: Lebanon, Maldives, Bhutan, Bangladesh. The top-2 teams from each side move to SF after league round robin.

No idea how Kuwait and Lebanon are playing in the SAFF Cup. They are not part of South Asia. I guess AIFF just invited them. It seems Sri Lanka was supposed to host the SAFF Cup, but FIFA banned Sri Lanka, so India took this over during the last 3 months or so.

June 21: IND vs PAK
June 24: IND vs NPL
June 27: IND vs KUW

Pakistan was playing a tournament in Mauritius just now (lost all three matches there, it seems). They needed Indian visas, which got delayed at the Indian embassy there (apparently due to Pakistan Federation screwups, not our fault!). They missed the flight on Sunday and will now fly on Monday to Bengaluru. Not much benefit for India, as India will also be flying tomorrow to Bengaluru, though in a shorter flight.

[jayakris]

By the way, we have not allowed a goal in 6 matches. Apparently this equals a 71 year old record from 1951-52 when we last had six clean sheets in a row.

[Update: Actually I think it is 7 matches, going back to last year. It is 6 this year]

[jayakris]

India up 2-0 on Pakistan after the first 15 minutes itself, with 2 goals by Mr. Who Else.

Half time (and a melee, with Pakistan coach getting a yellow and Stimac getting a red card).

[jayakris]

Well, Mr. Who Else got his hat-trick (he has a knack for doing these things when people are watching, doesn't he?). We went up 3-0 in the 73rd minute and then Udanta put in one more goal later to add to the Pakistanis' misery.

IND d. PAK, 4-0

That is 90 goals for Chhetri and it is eight in a row without allowing a goal. That is something impressive, even considering that we are not playing top-50 teams or anything. Some 750+ minutes of goal-less football!