India beat Kuwait in penalty shootout (AIFF Image)
Gurpreet Singh Sandhu made a sensational save on Kuwait’s sixth attempt to help India lift the trophy at Sree Kanteerava Stadium, Bengaluru.
India registered a thrilling win over Kuwait on penalties to clinch their ninth SAFF Championship title. It was a nail-biting finale where Sunil Chettri and Co. held their nerves in the penalty shoot-out to outclass Kuwait 5-4. Goalkeeper Gurpreet Singh Sandhu made a sensational save on Kuwait’s sixth attempt to help India lift the trophy at Sree Kanteerava Stadium, Bengaluru.
Sunil Chhetri took the first penalty for India and he fired the ball inside to goal to give the hosts an early advantage. However, a miss from Udanta Singh Kumam on the fourth shot did put some pressure on India in the final minutes of the thrilling finale.
India vs Kuwait Highlights SAFF Championship Final
Meanwhile, it was 1-1 at the scoresheet after the end of extra time as both teams played quality football for 120 minutes.
India and Kuwait had also played out a 1-1 draw in their last group match.
On Tuesday, Kuwait scored the first goal in the match as they didn’t waste much to open the scoring. It was a brilliant counter-attacking goal where the players made smart passes to breach India’s scattered defence. Shabib Al Khaldi scored the goal in the 14th minute in an attempt to put pressure on India but it didn’t happen.
India held their nerves and took control of the possession and break the deadlock in the 38th minute as Lallianzuala Chhangte scored the equaliser courtesy a brilliant team goal.
In the second half, the action continued to flow thick and fast as both India and Kuwait searched for the winner.
Both sides came close to scoring their respective second goals, but unable to do that, as the match moved towards the extra time for the second successive time for both the teams.
The extra time too witnessed frenetic action from both the sides. There were couple of injuries, yellow cards to players and officials of both sides and a slew of corners.
But that the decisive goal did not come through, making a penalty shootout mandatory to pick the winner.
