In the penalty shoot out, goalkeeper Gurpreet Singh Sandhu pulled off the decisive save.© Twitter
India lifted a record ninth SAFF Championship title on Tuesday after overcoming Kuwait in the penalty shootout at Sri Kanteerava Outdoor Stadium in Bengaluru. There was a sense of panic in the Indian dugout after Kuwait had taken the lead through Shabaib Al Khaldi. However, the hosts finally equalised after Ashique Kuruniyan picked out Sunil Chhetri, who combined with Sahal Abdul Samad, to set up Lallianzuala Chhangte for an easy tap-in. The scoreline remained intact as the match went to extra-time, followed by penalties.
In the penalty shootout, goalkeeper Gurpreet Singh Sandhu pulled off the decisive save off Kuwait captain Khaled Hajiah’s effort to spark wild celebrations at the Kanteerava.
After five rounds of penalty kicks, the scoreline was 4-4 with both sides missing a penalty each and the sudden death rule was kicked off.
Mahesh Naorem stepped up and scored for the Indian team. Sandhu had a difficult challenge in front of him as Hajiah stepped in to bring back parity in the scoreline.
Sandhu made a diving save to keep Khaled’s shot away from the goal line. As soon as he saved the penalty, he ran and pulled off an animated celebration in front of the home fans.
Watch Gurpreet Singh Sandhu’s decisive save in SAFF Championship final:
GURPREET SINGH SANDHU
You beauty
WE ARE THE CHAMPIONS#INDKUW #SAFFChampionship2023 #IndianFootball pic.twitter.com/KEoFVzN8Yq— BumbleBee (@itsMK_02) July 4, 2023
With this win, Indian head coach Igor Stimac becomes the first foreign head coach to win back-to-back SAFF Championship titles.
This was also the first time that India defeated two West Asian countries in back-to-back matches, after winning the semi-final against Lebanon, also on penalties.
(With ANI Inputs)
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