India will bank on the striking prowess of their talismanic captain Sunil Chhetri to tame a formidable Lebanon in the SAFF Championship semifinal on Saturday.
India, the defending champions, entered the semis as the second-placed team behind Kuwait from Group A while Lebanon topped Group B in their march to the last-four stage.
Chhetri has been India’s primary weapon in this tournament, as he has so far netted five goals from three matches to sit on top of the goal-scorers list. The count of goals includes a hat-trick against Pakistan.
The sensational tumbling volley against Kuwait during India’s last league match underlined his still-burning desire to lead the team’s charge. Chhetri will have to be on top of his game for India to hurdle over the Lebanon challenge, and this is not to say that others will have a lesser role.
The likes of Sahal Abdul Samad, Mahesh Singh and Udanta Singh will have to up the ante to support their skipper. All of them have had their moments in the tournament but apart from Chhetri only Udanta and Mahesh have been able to find the target.
India will be served well if they also can chip in with goals as relying on one player, even if he is as great as Chhetri, against an organised side like Lebanon could prove costly.
The home side will also hope that their defence will continue to work like a well-oiled machine as they have conceded only one goal in the last nine matches.
All these factors might not have lost on the Indians as Lebanon are a rather familiar opponent. The first meeting between these two sides took place in 1977 and since then they have engaged with each other seven more times.
Overall, Lebanon hold a 3-2 edge over India with three matches ending in draws.
However, India can take solace from the fact that their two recent outings against Lebanon fetched positive results. India held Lebanon to a goalless draw in the league match of the Intercontinental Cup earlier this month in Odisha, and beat them 2-0 in the tournament final.
But, then, past records have little meaning in the ultra-competitive world of football and India will have to be at their absolute best to beat their West Asian rivals, whose quick counter-attacks can be a thing of worry. They are entering the semis with an all-win record in the group stage, having warded off Bhutan, Maldives and Bangladesh.
On the other hand, India were stretched by Nepal and Kuwait after a relatively easy outing against Pakistan.
India will miss the presence of their head coach Igor Stimac on the touchline after the Croatian was slapped with his second red card of the tournament during the match against Kuwait.
But then this Indian side has shown a penchant to rise over the rough sea, and the match against Lebanon will be another occasion for an encore.
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