Goalkeeper Gurpreet Singh's brilliant performance helped the Indian football team win the SAFF Championship tournament. It won the title for the second time in a row and for the ninth time overall by defeating Kuwait in the penalty shootout at the Sree Kanteerava Stadium in Bengaluru on Tuesday (July 4). Both the teams were tied at 1-1 for the stipulated 90 minutes. Neither team could score a second goal even in its 30 minutes of extra time. In such a situation, the match was decided in the penalty shootout. There India won 5-4.
India had earlier become champions in 1993, 1997, 1999, 2005, 2009, 2011, 2015 and 2021. In the tournament's 14-year history, India has emerged as the champion nine times and finished runners-up four times. In a breath-taking penalty shootout, Gurpreet Singh Sandhu produced a brilliant display to save Kuwait captain Khalid Al Ibrahim's final shot.
Match was decided by the sudden death
In the penalty shootout, both teams get five chances to score five goals each. The team that misses in this loses the match. After the stipulated five shots each, both teams were tied at four each. Udanta Singh for India and Mohammad Abdullah for Kuwait missed the target. After the draw of four, it was the turn of sudden death. In this, the team which misses scoring the goal directly loses. He doesn't get a second chance. Naurem Mahesh Singh scored for India in sudden death. At the same time, the shot of Kuwait captain Khalid was stopped by India's goalkeeper Gurpreet Singh. He became the hero of Team India.
Both teams scored in the first half
Kuwait started the final with control, which paid off in the form of a goal in the 16th minute. Abdullah passed a long pass to Al Fanini, who passed the ball to Alblusi on the right flank, who passed to the unmarked Al Khaledi, who made no mistake in scoring. Kuwait continued to dominate even after this, but India got a chance to equalize in the 38th minute. Sunil Chhetri's pass was headed from left to right by Sahal Abdul Samad at the goalpost towards Changte, who slotted it into the goal. Changte has been adjudged the best footballer of the year by the All India Football Federation on Tuesday.
Tremendous push in the second half
The first half ended in a 1–1 draw, with both teams pushing through the second half, which resulted in several yellow cards being shown by the referee to both teams. On one occasion, the referee showed yellow cards to two Kuwaiti footballers and the coach. Kuwait increased their dominance as the game progressed towards regulation. He spoke attack after attack. He also got free kicks continuously, but he could not take advantage. Abdullah got a great chance to score in injury time. He only had to beat goalkeeper Gurpreet Sandhu, but his ground shot in the box was brilliantly blocked by Sandhu. After this, India got a great chance, but Udanta, who came in place of Sahal, could not take advantage of it. The match was tied 1-1 even after the stipulated time.
No goal even in extra time
Both the teams could not score any goals in the first half of extra time. India dominated the second half. Udanta once again got a great chance to score. His shot on a cross from the right edge went over the goal. The match ended 1-1 in extra time and the result had to be decided by a penalty shootout.
What did the players say?
Indian captain Sunil Chhetri, “Not just this match but the whole tournament was fantastic. The entire team performed tremendously. I can't ask for anything more from him. We have been together for seven-eight weeks. It is not easy to win two consecutive penalty shoot-outs.
India's star goalkeeper Gurpreet Singh said, “The players of the team performed brilliantly. Despite being one goal behind, we came back. That time was the weakest for us. The player made a great comeback after this. Kuwait's team somehow wanted to take the match to the penalty shootout after a 1-1 draw. Everything is down to luck in the penalty shootout.
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