It had to be him. It's almost always been him. As he chested it down, swiveled and absolutely larruped his shot into the roof of the net, the average Indian fan would have felt that sense of familiarity sweep over them. They've seen it happen 86 times now... a Sunil Chhetri goal for India. And this one was enough for a hard-fought 1-0 victory over Vanuatu on matchday two of the Intercontinental Cup in Bhubaneswar.
.@chetrisunil11's left footed finish takes the #BlueTigers �� to the #HeroIntercontinentalCup �� FINAL ����#VANIND ⚔️ #IndianFootball ⚽️ pic.twitter.com/1n081IsM4I
- Indian Football Team (@IndianFootball) June 12, 2023
The goal came in the 81st minute, but for most of the time that preceded it India had looked undercooked. Igor Stimac started the game with almost a fresh XI, just two surviving from the first game (Sandesh Jhingan and Chhetri). He started Liston Colaco, Naorem Mahesh Singh, and debutant Nandhakumar Sekar behind Chhetri - three left wingers spread across areas of the pitch they are not always the most comfortable in.
It showed in the early stages - when the game was played at a high tempo, the attack looked fluid and smooth, the front four interchanging rapidly and creating all sorts of bother, but when the game slowed down they floundered a bit. None of this was helped by the fact that they rushed into their decisions in the final third - the pass, the cross, the shot all flew in before anyone was really set. Even Chhetri's finishing looked rusty, a glaring miss from an free header in front of an open goal standing out. Vanuatu's well drilled defence, marshalled superbly by centre backs Brian Kaltak and Jason Thomas, kept the Indians at arm's length with ease. Till the goal.
By then India had changed their combination. Lallianzuala Chhangte came out on the right, Sahal Abdul Samad down the middle and behind them came Anirudh Thapa and Jeakson Singh, and Mahesh moved back to the left. It was Thapa, Samad and Mahesh who combined well to play Subashish Bose down the line - his cross into the box was collected well by Chhetri and smashed home. The Indian captain then celebrated by tucking the ball into his jersey: his way, he said after the match, of announcing that he and his wife were expecting a baby.
After the match, Igor Stimac spoke about his frustration from the team's showing in the first half. "In the first game we opened the scoring in the second minute. Here [in the 81st]. In such [hot and humid] conditions, if you don't open the scoring early in the first half, it can be a problem," he said.
"We were not good in midfield... we were slow and sloppy and played the safe pass instead of the progressive ones [hence the wholesale changes at the hour mark]."
"The good thing, though," he added, "was that we didn't lose our composure, our clarity of idea."
Asked about the changes in the starting XI and if he had a preferred lineup in mind, he said, "I have [set] my XI long time ago - but first two games I need to make sure we have fresh legs for final game. It's expected we reach the final. But you can see there are no easy matches," he said. "The only way to ensure competitiveness and intensity in training is giving game time to everyone."
India, who top the table, now face second-placed Lebanon -- who drew 0-0 against Mongolia earlier on Monday -- on June 15, Thursday at 7.30 PM in the same venue.
You can read a blow-by-blow account of India vs Vanuatu in our live blog below --
(The live blog will appear below this line. Please wait a few seconds, but if it doesn't load, please click here)