Igor Stimac got his young squad on the field. But India had to once again fall on a finishing touch from the veteran Sunil Chhetri in Bhubaneswar on Monday as he announced that he was about to be a father in celebrating the winner that almost ensured his team's berth in the International Cup final.
The hosts beat Vanuatu by a solitary Chhetri strike in the 80th minute and rode the stalemate by Lebanon against Mongolia in the afternoon kickoff to go on top of the table and continue their winning run at home. It was, however, disappointing for the 164th-ranked Vanuatu who put up an excellent show in defence led by their veteran skipper Brian Kaltack and kept the Indians at bay from the goal for 79 minutes.
But Chhetri, who had failed to score on a number of optimistic occasions, finally got to control the ball from a cross by Subhasish Bose from the left of the box, into the middle. And the 38-year-old chested the ball with his first touch and shot it past the outstretched hands of the Vanuatu goalkeeper.
Player of the match Chhetri later said that he and his wife were expecting a child. "It is how she wanted us to announce the news. It's a football cliché, but I had to do it," he said about his celebration.
India head coach Igor Stimac had said before the start of the tournament, "All 27 players in the squad are my playing XI." And he walked the talk at Kalinga Stadium on Monday as he retained only the most experienced Gurpreet Singh, Sandesh Jhingan and the skipper while replacing the young midfield and defence that won 2-0 against Mongolia.
Stimac's new eight began on a positive note with the players combining well from the first whistle. Subhasish's runs from the back were well complemented by the speed of debutant Nandhakumar Sekar on the left flank and Liston Colaco, who also made an attacking combo with the Chhetri.
On the other hand, it was a cross from the right from Pritam Kotal that led to India's first chance in the 12th minute from a Chhetri header, which however went wide. Just two minutes later, Nandhakumar could have scored his debut goal after getting a Subhasish cross from the left. But his shot was blocked by the indomitable Vanuatu skipper, Brian.
Naorem Mahesh Singh was also instrumental in creating chances from the middle and the right and did the same in the 21st minute with a cross to Chhetri, who passed it to Liston just outside the box. Again, Lison's swerving shot was wide off target.
But all their attacks seemed to lack foresight and the finishing kept evading them. They lacked decisive shots in the final third and the Vanuatu defenders, especially Bryan and Timothy Loic, used their physicality like a fort playing in their first evening kickoff.
It stayed that way not only at half-time but also for most of the second half and made Stimac bring in the brightest of the last game in Sahal Abdul Samad and Anirudh Thapa in the 62nd minute, and Lallianzuala Chhangte a few minutes later.
Their introduction made the attacks more compact and disciplined while Mahesh became freer with his inroads. However, even their promising moves couldn't bring a breakthrough till the 80th minute when Indian football's Mr Dependable found the net.
