Lebanon beat India 1-0 to finish in third place in the 2023 King’s Cup final at the 700th Anniversary of Chiang Mai stadium, Thailand. The lone goal of the match came via a spectacular effort from Lebanon centre-back Kassem El Zein who bicycle-kicked the ball in off a rebound from a 77th minute corner. There were complaints of offside, repeated post-match by Indian captain on the day Sandesh Jhingan, but they were brushed aside by the officials.
Lebanon started the game better, dominating possession for most of the opening quarter of an hour but not fashioning any clearcut chances. India slowly got into the game after that and soon were creating half-chances at the other end: Manvir Singh sending a good header over the bar, Lallianzuala Chhangte almost getting a shot away inside the box before El Zein steamed in with a late challenge.
Manvir ploughed a bit of a lone furrow, trying to get behind along the inside channels on either side of the centre-backs but the Lebanese pair were on their A-game. Akash Mishra down the left and Asish Rai down the right (replaced for the second half by Nikhil Poojary) were good attacking outlets for India but the three fullbacks just couldn’t find the final delivery needed to unlock the defence.
Anwar Ali and Sandesh Jhingan took it in turns to feed Sahal Abdul Samad and later Brandon Fernandes in pockets, but they were closed out easily enough by the midfield of Ayoub and Tneich. Anirudh Thapa had a good chance to take the lead early in the second half after he ghosted in behind the defence to run onto a lovely Anwar Ali lofted through ball; but he fluffed his lines from an angle, with just the keeper to beat.
Lebanon’s introduction of Karim Darwich made them a better counterattacking threat as the big striker’s hold up play allowed the wingers and midfielders to join up. It was Darwich’s hassling which prompted the corner from which they scored. Ali Al Haj swept in a delightful ball that was thundered at goal by an unmarked Sabra. Gurpreet Singh Sandhu pulled off a sensational stop to deny the left -back from point blank range but El Zein was the first to the rebound; and his technique to connect with the bicycle was inch perfect.
India then started throwing men forward, and had a very good chance to equalise in injury time when Chhangte curled in a lovely ball into the far post. The keeper came and missed, but Rohit Kumar and KP Rahul both missed a clean connection, with the former steering his header wide from about two yards out of an empty net (albeit from an acute angle).
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