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Sunil Chhetri led India's charge in the Intercontinental Cup but the team's head coach Igor Stimac was not at all happy with the performance in the first half, which ended in a 0-0 draw as Lebanon dominated the match for almost 30 minutes before the end of the half.
Chhetri found the net just seconds after the second half kicked off, with Lallianzuala Chhangte doubling the lead later in the game as India downed Lebanon to win their second Intercontinental Cup.
The 37-year-old forward said after the match that Stimac was not at all pleased with India's poor performance in the first half, adding 'a lot of words were spoken, some of which I can't repeat here'.
"We got some tongue lashing from the boss at half-time. We were nowhere close to where we were in the last game. It was the wake-up call that we needed," said Chhetri. "A lot of words were spoken, some of which I can't repeat here. But the main thing is that we knew we had it in our tanks, and at the end of the day, we have no regrets. Of course, it's easier now to say this at 2-0, but we are happy with the win."
The same was reiterated by the Croatian after the match. "We should not allow them to control the game for 20 minutes like that. It’s best I don’t mention what was said at half-time, but it worked. The reaction from the boys in the second half was brilliant. This is the India I like to see," said Stimac.
For Chhetri, it was a sweet moment as India secured their second title in the competition. They won the first edition held in 2018, while the next edition held in 2019 was won by North Korea. "We could not win the last time in the Hero Intercontinental Cup, but this win was sweet. It was not easy, but we were very happy, especially to keep the clean sheets,” Chhetri added.
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