Intercontinental Cup 2023: India Face Vanuatu With An Eye On Final

On a high after their convincing win over Mongolia, India will look to seal a final berth when they face Vanuatu in the four-nation Intercontinental Cup football tournament in Bhubaneswar on Monday. The hosts blanked Mongolia 2-0 in their tournament opener on Friday, while Vanuatu went down 1-3 to Lebanon. So, as things stand, the Blue Tigers will seal their final berth if they win against the team from Oceania. Lebanon are the other team that is in the hunt for a final berth as they face Mongolia in the earlier kick-off at the Kalinga Stadium.

Against Mongolia, India sealed victory in the opening quarter itself, with quick-fire goals from Sahal Abdul Samad and Lallianzuala Chhangte to bag their sixth straight win on home soil.

"I was most impressed with the players' intention of adding to the game we've been practising during the training sessions," India head coach Igor Stimac said.

The visiting teams have found it tough to deal with Bhubaneswar's hot and humid conditions.

"The weather does make a lot of impact on the pitch, but we need to be honest that we have an advantage in that sense because we've already trained here for more than three weeks," Stimac said.

"With what we saw in the Vanuatu-Lebanon match, a few players went off injured in the first half, so it's clear that it will be difficult for them to cope in such conditions," added the Croatian.

Vanuatu mostly have local players in their squad except for two forwards -- Azariah Soromon and Alex Saniel -- who play for Suva FC (Fiji) and captain Brian Kaltack, who turns out for Central Coast Mariners in A-League.

Part of the Melanesian subregion of Oceania, Vanuatu is an island nation with a population of just over three lakhs. Football is the most popular