Lebanon defeat india 1-0, in the Kings Cup at the 700th-anniversary stadium in Chiang Mai on Sunday.. The only goal of the match came through a spectacular effort by Lebanon’s center-back Kasem El Zein, who scored with a bicycle kick on a rebound from a corner in the 77th minute.
Lebanon started the game on the front foot, dominating for most of the opening quarter, but failed to create any clear opportunities. The goal came from Ali Al Haj’s corner, which was first headed by left-back Sabra but was brilliantly denied by Gurpreet Singh Sandhu. However, he couldn’t stop El Zein’s rebound.
After that, India began to push forward, and they had a great chance to equalize during injury time when Chhangte placed a beautiful shot into the far post. The keeper came out and missed it, but Rohit Kumar and KP Rahul both missed connecting cleanly. The former headed wide from almost two yards out.
Unfortunately, India couldn’t secure a win in their opening match of the tournament against Iraq. After a 2-2 draw, they lost 4-5 on penalties, and now they lost their second fixture against Lebanon. Both teams recently clashed in the SAFF Championship which India won in penalties.
Lebanon secured the third place in the Kings Cup with a 1-0 victory over India through Kasem El Zein.
It was a disappointing campaign for India, losing their second match in the Kings Cup 2023.
After the match, Sandesh Jhingan said, ‘Certainly, we are disappointed that we couldn’t win. We dominated the entire match. I will have to see the goal again, if it was offside, it’s a joke. The previous game, there was never a penalty. If this is offside, it’s a joke. I hope it gets reversed because if it doesn’t, it’s a terrible decision…
