India thrash Kenya, lift Intercontinental Cup
Mumbai, June 10: Skipper Sunil Chhetri continued his superb form, striking a brace as India thrashed Kenya 2-0 to clinch the Intercontinental Cup at the Mumbai Football Arena here on Sunday.
Chhetri, who scored in the eighth and 29th minutes to hand India a convincing victory, also equalled Argentina's Lionel Messi's tally of 64 international goals, making him the joint-second active international goalscorer behind Portugal's Cristiano Ronaldo (81 goals).
With the stadium jam-packed with Indian fans, the hosts started on an aggressive note as they penetrated the Kenyan defense twice in the first minute.
The hosts took an early lead when a free kick from Anirudh Thapa was flicked perfectly by skipper Sunil Chhetri into the net.
After conceding the goal, Kenya regrouped and started to counter-attack. Jockins Atudo, who scored twice in the last match, was not too effective on Sunday thanks to some brilliant marking by the Indian defenders.
Unpetrubed by the Kenyan pressing, India continued playing offensively and as a result Chhetri scored with a superb finish just before the half hour mark to double India's lead.
Defender Anas Edathodika lofted a long ball and Chhetri beat the offside trap to chest-trap the ball before slamming an accurate left-footer low into the far corner.
The desperate Kenyans kept on creating attacks at regular intervals but were let tried down by poor finishing.
Bernard Oginga, who enjoyed a lot of ball possession, struggled to beat the Indian defenders and also received a yellow card for his efforts.
Kenya started the second half on an attacking note as Otieno Ochieng almost netted the first goal for Kenya with a viciously curling long ranger. But Indian goalkepper Gurpreet Sandhu pulled off an excellent diving save to keep out the brilliant effort.
In the 60th minute, Kenya was unfortunate to miss another chance as another long range effort from Ochieng failed to beat Gurpreet, who used both his fists to punch the ball out.
The visitors were once again was on the verge of opening their account in the 71st minute but Dennis Odhiambo failed to get past Sandhu.
There was no stopping for Sandhu tonight as the keeper saved yet again six-minutes later off Ochieng's strike.
The final few minutes saw India desperately defend their citadel and making a string of substitutions.
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Congress cites Maniben Patel's diary entries, asks Rajnath to apologise for Babri claim
New Delhi (PTI): The Congress on Saturday shared diary entries of Vallabhbhai Patel's daughter from a book to rebut Defence Minister Rajnath Singh's claim that India's first prime minister, Jawaharlal Nehru, wanted to build the Babri masjid using public funds, and demanded that Singh apologise for spreading "falsehoods".
Congress general secretary in charge of communications, Jairam Ramesh, claimed the defence minister was spreading falsehoods to “improve his relationship” with Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
“Here is Maniben's original diary entry in Gujarati on pages 212-213 in the book ‘Samarpit Padchhayo Sardarno’ by CA R S Patel 'Aaresh', published by Sardar Patel Vallabhbhai Patel Memorial Society, 2025,” Ramesh said on X, sharing screenshots of the relevant pages from the book.
“There is a huge difference between what is contained in the original diary entry and what Rajnath Singh ji and his fellow ‘distorians’ are propagating,” Ramesh said.
“The Defence Minister must apologise for the falsehoods he is spreading, simply to improve his relationship with the PM,” he claimed.
The Congress had earlier termed Singh's claim that Nehru wanted to build the Babri masjid using public funds a “lie” and “WhatsApp university story”, and said the defence minister should not walk in Prime Minister Narendra Modi's path.
Addressing a gathering at Sadhli village in Gujarat's Vadodara district last Tuesday, Singh said Nehru wanted to build the Babri masjid using public funds, but Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel didn't allow his plans to succeed.
The BJP had cited a book by Vallabhbhai Patel's daughter to double down on Singh's claims, and said the first prime minister also said he felt "repelled" by some of the temples in south India despite their beauty.
“The source of what Rajnath Singh said is the 'Inside Story of Sardar Patel, Diary of Maniben Patel'," BJP Rajya Sabha MP and national spokesperson Sudhanshu Trivedi had said at a press conference at the party headquarters while responding to media queries on the issue.
Trivedi claimed that on Page 24 of the book, it is written that Nehru also raised the question of the Babri mosque, but Sardar Patel made it clear that the government could not spend any money on building a mosque.
