Intercontinental Cup 2018: Sunil Chhetri scores Benzema-like goal, but India lose to New Zealand

Mumbai, June 7: The euphoria surrounding Sunil Chhetri’s 100th international appearance and the two thumping wins that his side recorded so far in the Intercontinental Cup was burst open as they bowed to a determined New Zealand outfit 1-2 in their final round-robin game at the Mumbai Football Arena on Thursday (June 7).

Though the Indians went ahead after a Michael Woud clearance struck Chhetri’s leg and ricocheted into his own goal in the 46th minute, goals from Andre de Jong (49th) and Moses Dyer (86th) helped the All Whites rally in fine manner to record a deserving win.

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Having secured their place in the Sunday’s final, it was no surprise that the Indian head coach Stephen Constantine chose to rest a handful of his first-choice starters.The changes meant the likes of Amrinder Singh, Salam Ranjan Singh and Ashique Kuruniyan were handed their first starts at the international stage while Rowllin Borges and Md Rafique returned to the starting XI.

The make-shift defence took their time to settle in, allowing the Kiwis to have a crack at the Indian goal in no time. After Salam Ranjan had avoided early scare with a goal-line clearance in the opening exchanges, Jai Ingham and Justin Gulley combined well with the former swivelling and lobbing the ball over the Indian defence into the danger area. Thankfully for coach Stephen Constantine and his boys, Myer Bevan got his jump all wrong as his moving header went over the crossbar.

Meanwhile, the Indians tried to pull off some tactical brilliance as they switched between a 4-3-1-2 and a 4-1-3-2 with Anirudh Thapa playing behind the two strikers and the wingers joining the front-three while on attack. However, none of this mattered as wavered passes, aimless long balls and unnecessary attempts to free oneself came to haunt them time and again.

7 changes for India as Anas Edathodika misses out for the 1st time since his debut against Cambodia.

While his centre back partner Sandesh Jhingan is not playing for the 1st time since SAFF Cup 2015.#IndianFootball @fni #IntercontinentalCup #INDvNZL #BackTheBlue #AsianDream

— Aditya Warty (@AnalystAdi) June 7, 2018

Despite such carelessness, the Indians did venture forward and tried having a crack at the Kiwi goal. It was Rafique's diagonal cross that saw Chhetri somehow managed to keep it after a fumble. But though the Indian skipper made goalkeeper Woud dance to his tune, he eventually got hold of the ball and averted the danger.

This didn’t mean that the Kiwis stopped their onslaught on the Indian defence. Midway through the first half, Amrinder was called into action. Having conceded a silly corner, the Indians seemed to forget the basics of defending and let Nikko Boxall have a free header from point blank range. But the Viborg FF defender was made to rue his luck as Amrinder pulled off a blinder to deny the All Whites the lead.

That miss, however, could have proved costly as the it were the Indians who went close moments later. Subhasish Bose’s lofted ball found Chhetri on the corner flag, the skipper was smart enough to play it back to Ashique who whipped in a cross for Balwant inside the Kiwi box. The Punjab man chose not to have a crack at the goal and instead nodded it into Chhetri's path who saw his strike fly over the cross bar. That was closest the hosts got in the opening half as the two teams headed into the break on level terms.

Welcome @jejefanai to the 50-club #Jeje50 #INDvNZL #WeAreIndia #BackTheBlue #AsianDream pic.twitter.com/AbexX8cT9v

— Indian Football Team (@IndianFootball) June 7, 2018

Post the break, though Constantine rung in a few more changes to switch to his tired and tested midfield in this competition, it took some sloppy work from the Kiwi shot-stopper to help India get the lead. Of what should have been a regulation clearance of a back pass, Woud slammed his take right into Chhetri’s leg only to see the ball roll into his goal as the Indian skipper extended his goal scoring spree into a seventh game on the bounce. The Sunderland 'keeper wouldn’t have dreamt of something even after watching Loris Karius in the UEFA Champions League final a few weeks ago.

The deficit, however, barely stood for a few minutes as the All Whites came back into the tie in fine fashion. De Jong did well to beat the offside trap and get behind a good through ball from Sarpreet. Cutting past Salam Ranjan, the 21-year-old rolled the ball past Amrinder to bring his side back into the game as India conceded for the first time in the competition.

Any particular reason why the Indian team jersey don't have players name on the back? I don't find any reason to not be there. It's there in other sports. Why not in football? It will make audience easy to identify/remember the player on field.@IndianFootball @fni #INDvNZL

— Arshi Yasin (@arshi_yasin) June 7, 2018

And if one thought that was all that the Indian backline would let past them on the evening, they were in for some more surprises moments later. Sarpreet, who enjoyed the time of his life, negotiated three Indian defenders like fish to water and laid it up for Dyer who slotted it past a hapless Amrinder to hand Kiwis the decisive lead.

This loss should open up the pandoras box for Constantine who seems to hide behind his team’s success largely against team’s a rug below them. But wait, the Kiwis haven’t even brought the best of their players’ on this tour.

The finallists on Sunday - between Kenya and New Zealand - will be decided after Kenya's last game against the fourth team in the tournament, Chinese Taipei.