India lost the opening match of the ONGC Nehru Cup 0-1 to Lebanon. The Lebanese team were a last moment entry to the tournament when Palestine were removed as they were unable to send their first team.
Lebanon got the only goal of the match at the 4th minute when defender Ali Al Saadi beat the Indian wall and the goalkeeper Subrata Pal to get in near the near post. India looked very shaky in the beginning of the match when they let in the goal. However after that India did come back in the game and were clearly the better side in the rest of first half. India could have restored parity but Sushil's header was cleared by a Lebanese defender and Bhaichung's shot on goal was saved brilliantly by the goalkeeper.
India comtinued their pressure in the second half but were denied any opportunity of getting to the opponent's net twice by dubious decisions of the referee. First it was in the 49th minute when Gourmangi Singh headed the ball accross the goalline but it was judged a foul. Again at the 65th minute Baichung Bhutia was brought down just outside the Lebanon penalty box but the Bangladeshi official showed yellow ard to the Indian captain. Indians looked tired in the last 10 minutes and could not create clear chances to get at par.
The goal scorer and Lebanese defender Ali Al Saadi was awarded the man of the match awrd for his goal and great performance at the defence line.
India next plays their next match on august 22 against Kyrghyzstan. Tomorrow Syria play their first match against Kyrghyzstan.
1 comment:
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