India won SAFF Championship for the 9th time
Team india defeated kuwait and captured the SAFF championship for the ninth time. In the final match played in Bengaluru on Tuesday, india defeated kuwait 5-4 in the penalty shootout. Both the teams were tied at 1-1 till 120 minutes of play. Even after five rounds of penalty shootout, the score was 4-4, after which the decision was taken on sudden death. Mahesh Norem scored and indian goalkeeper Gurpreet Sandhu made a diving save to save Khalid Hajiya's shot.
Shaaib Al Khalidi gave kuwait the lead in the 14th minute of regulation time, while Lallianzuala scored the equalizer for india in the 39th minute. Defending champions india and kuwait played out a 1-1 draw in the last group match as well. india has won the penalty shootout for the second time. Earlier on July 1, in the semi-finals, lebanon was also defeated 4–2 in the penalty shootout. In that match too, Sandhu did a great job in the shootout.
These players scored goals for Team India- Captain sunil Chhetri, sandesh Jhingan, Shubhashish Bose, Chhangte and Mahesh scored for india while Udanta Singh missed the target. Prior to the shootout, kuwait dominated the proceedings, creating several chances in the first half. It paid off in the 14th minute when Mubarak Al Fanini passed from the left wing to Abdullah Al Blushi. Al Blushi passed the ball to Al Khalidi who scored to give kuwait the lead. india would have equalized in the very next minute but kuwait goalkeeper Abdul rahman saved Chhangte's shot.
Chhangte, who was voted the best male player of the year by FIFF, however, scored the equalizer in the 39th minute. After an exchange of passes between Sahal Abdul Samad and captain Chhetri, the ball reached Chhangte who beat the opposition goalkeeper to score. In the second half, both the teams tried their best but could not score. Some players were injured in extra time, some players and officials also got yellow cards but the decisive goal could not be scored. After this, the decision was taken from the penalty shootout.