International Friendly: India 2-0 Nepal – Hosts get sweet revenge of SAFF 2013 loss

Indian National Football Team

India 2 (Sunil 21, Clifford 48) Nepal 0

India: Karanjit Singh, Denzil Franco, Aibor Khongjee, Arnab Mondal, Narayan Das; Francis Fernandes (Victorino Fernandes 74), Lalrindika Ralte (Rocus Lamare 82), Mehtab Hossain, Clifford Miranda (CK Vineeth 85); Sunil Chhetri, Robin Singh

Nepal: Kiran Limbu; Biraj Maharjan, Sandip Rai, Sagar Thapa, Rabin Shrestha (Sabindra Shrestha 83); Bhola Silwal (Prakash Budhathoki 68), Bikram Lama, Raju Tamang (Shiva Shrestha 58), Jagjeet Shrestha; Jumanu Rai (Santosh Shahukhal 64), Anil Gurung (Deepak Rai 51)

The Indian national team defeated Nepal 2-0 in an international friendly at the Kanchenjunga Stadium in Siliguri on Tuesday to avenge the loss that they suffered in the group stage of SAFF Championship 2013 against the same opponents in Kathmandu.

Skipper Sunil Chhetri opened the scoring in the first half to become India’s all-time top scorer as per AIFF records while veteran midfielder Clifford Miranda doubled the advantage in the second period.

Nepal never looked like coming back in the game as India recorded their first international friendly win under Wim Koevermans.

Skipper Sunil Chhetri opened the scoring in the first half to become India’s all-time top scorer as per AIFF records while veteran midfielder Clifford Miranda doubled the advantage in the second period. Nepal never looked like coming back in the game as India registered their first international friendly win under Wim Koevermans.

Koevermans made two changes to the lineup that started in the 1-1 draw with Philippines as 20-year-old Narayan Das was handed his debut at left back in place of Gurjinder Kumar while Lalrindika Ralte replaced Lenny Rodrigues in central midfield.

There were no real surprises in the Nepal eleven but central midfielder Raju Tamang started despite having a slight ankle injury.

Backed by a crowd of close to 20,000, India started the game strongly while Nepal struggled to get going early on.

Both teams were misplacing too many paces and the game only came alive around the 20 minute mark when Francis Fernandes hit the woodwork with a dipping effort from 30 yards which had Nepal goalkeeper Kiran Limbu beaten.

A minute later India went in front when Sunil tapped home a rebound after Limbu had stopped Robin’s header from a Clifford Miranda cross. The India captain was at the right place and right time to score the goal that, as per AIFF records, made him India’s all-time highest scorer at international level with 43 goals.

India continued to dominate proceedings for the remainder of the half with the Nepal team looking completely out of sorts but the visitors did have a great chance to equalise when Jumanu Rai found himself unmarked inside the India box. However his effort hit Arnab Mondal and went behind for a corner, which Nepal wasted.

The hosts created plenty of chances to increase their advantage with Sunil putting his header narrowly wide after a great cross from debutant Narayan Das. India would have run away with the game but for the heroics of Nepal custodian Limbu who made several saves in the first half including one reflex save to deny Robin, who had a strong effort with his weaker right foot.

India had a perfect start to the second period as Clifford finished off a great move to make it 2-0. Koevermans’ side caught out Nepal with a quick counter attack after the away side had lost possession in the India half and Robin made them pay by finding Clifford in the box with a low cross. The Dempo man easily found the back of the net after Lalrindika Ralte had failed to connect to the cross initially.

The home team continued to look the side that would score again in the game and hit the woodwork in the second half also. Debutant Narayan went on a brilliant solo run before releasing Robin whose thunderous left-footed effort rattled the Nepal bar while Sunil failed to score from the rebound despite having an acrobatic effort.

Nepal coach Jack Stefanowski made as many as five changes but none of them could change the complexion of the game. India dropped the tempo of their game but showed great discipline and organsation defensively to preserve their clean sheet.

India custodian Karanjit Singh only had to make one routine save in the second half and punch away a couple of deliveries from corners. But otherwise Nepal never really threatened to score with most of their players possibly suffering from fatigue due to their involvement in the ongoing Sikkim Governors Gold Cup.

However nothing can be taken away from India’s performance as they justified the claim that they are the better side on paper and the ease with which the game was won also allowed Koevermans to make some changes with Sporting Clube’s Victorino Fernandes coming on to make his international debut.

This was India’s first win in international friendlies since November 2011 when they beat Malaysia 3-2 in Kolkata and the result ended their 2013 record as – Played:12; Won:5; Lost:5; Drawn:2.