India lose against Lebanon

As they say, well begun is half done. But India failed to do so when they started their Nehru Cup defence on a 1-0 losing note.

The hosts lost against the familiar foes Lebanon.

India had lost to the same opponents in the World Cup qualifiers in 2007. And, they once again could not overcome Lebanon, at the Ambedkar Stadium in the Capital on Wednesday.

Lebanon got off to a good start. Within the first minute, Hamze Abboud and Mohmoud El Ali created a scare in the Indian goal area.

Two minutes later, India goalkeeper Subrata Pal again found his territory under threat. This time, defender Surkumar Singh was at fault. The right-back failed to clear the ball in the area and almost served a goal to Lebanon on a platter.

Luckily enough, Pal was all alert to ward off the resulting danger.

But just when the sizeable crowd had started cheering for the home side, the visitors dealt the big blow. Ali Al Saad made no mistake with a direct free kick in the fifth minute. The Lebanese defender took an accurate shot to the middle of the goalpost to take the all important lead for his side.

A minute later, Hassan Maatouk had almost doubled his side's score. His shot from inside the 16-yard area just missed the mark by a whisker.

It wasn't till the ninth minute that Bhaichung Bhutia's boys made their presence felt in the rival area. NS Manju crossed the ball to an approaching Bhutia in the Lebanese area. There was just the rival 'keeper Lary Mehanna to beat. But Bhutia wasn't quick enough to get his foot to the ball.

After that sanity prevailed for around 10 minutes. Then it was hosts' turn to ring the danger bells in the visitors' half. This time, Indian forward duo, Bhutia and Sushil Kumar, connected well to dodge the Lebanese defence. But this time Sushil could not connect with the cross from Bhutia in an open area.

Some 10 minutes later, Indian ace midfielder NP Pradeep finally woke up from slumber.

The 2007 Nehru Cup final hero played out a precise pass from 45 yards centre to Surkumar on the right edge of the area. But once again skipper Bilal C El Najjarine-led Lebanese defence did not let the ball penetrate into the goal box.

A couple of minutes later, Sushil sounded a real threat in Mehanna's area. The Indian forward's sturdy header, however, missed the aim by just a few inches.

India again missed a wonderful chance to draw parity. Just three minutes before the first-half whistle, Pradeep's brilliant header to a Steven Dias direct kick went astray by a few centimetres. Sushil then took a superb shot at the rival post in the extra time, but Mehanna managed to out-punch the ball.

India coach Bob Houghton finally sent in ace defender Mahesh Gawli and star striker Sunil Chettri in the early second part of the game.

Chettri, who is yet to fully recover from his ankle injury, tried to make a difference. But, the visiting defence stood rock-solid and their custodian all alert.

India's repeated attacks and desperation to score could only lead to skipper Bhutia earning a yellow card for going down in the area.

While India kept the game in the Lebanese half for most part of these 45 minutes , the boys in blue just could not get the ball in the desired area.

India are now up against Kyrgyzstan on Saturday. Lebanon will be facing Sri Lanka on Friday.