India will look to overcome the heartbreak of losing a close match against Iraq when they take on Lebanon in the contest for the third place in the King's Cup football tournament on Sunday.

India were 10-odd minutes away from a maiden triumph over Iraq before a controversial penalty saw the match end 2-2. Igor Stimac's side then went down 4-5 in the penalty shootout.

Head coach Stimac had lashed out at the referee for "robbing" India of a victory. But India will take confidence from the fact that they led twice against Iraq, ranked 70th in the world, and were very close to beating them. That experience will help them against Lebanon, whom they have already faced three times this year.

In the previous three meetings this year between the two sides, Stimac's boys have won twice and drawn once. But that doesn't mean that India will have it easy against the Lebanese side, who were beaten 1-2 by hosts Thailand in their first match.

There is little to separate the two teams in terms of their Fifa rankings — while India are ranked 99th, Lebanon are at 100th.

For India, the forwards will once again have to play responsibly in the absence of Sunil Chhetri. They did well against Iraq, with Mahesh Singh's goal from a Sahal Abdul Samad through being a class act.

But Stimac would want his side not to go into a shell like they did in the second half against Iraq. Also crucial will be how the defenders fare.

Stimac believes soon a time will come when "even referees will not be able to stop my boys from winning such games". Time for the team to prove him right.

With inputs from PTI