Goalkeeper Gurpreet Singh Sandhu made the difference again as he saved a crucial penalty in the summit encounter to help India beat Kuwait 5-4 in the shootout to clinch the SAFF Championships title for the ninth time here on Tuesday. After five rounds of penalties the score remained 4-4 and the sudden death rule was applied. Mahesh Naorem scored, but a diving Sandhu saved Kuwaiti captain Khaled Hajiah’s shot in the wild celebration of the home fans and in India’s dugout. In regular time, Shabaib Al Khaldi had put Kuwait ahead in the 14th minute before Lallianzuala Chhangte equalized in the 39th minute.
Defending champions India and Kuwait also drew 1-1 in their last group game.
This was India’s second time winning in the penalty shootout. They had made it to Tuesday’s top after beating Lebanon 4-2 in the semi-final on 1 July. Sandhu had then also made a crucial save in the shootout.
For India, Captain Sunil Chhetri, Sandesh Jhingan, Chhangte, Subasish Bose and Mahesh converted as Udanta Singh missed.
Prior to the shootout drama, Kuwait had a slight lead as they often pushed forward for goals in the first half.
The ruthlessness produced the desired result in the 14th minute. Mobarak Al Faneeni released Abullah Al Bloushi on the left wing with a deft pass. Al Bloushi found Shabaib Al Khaldi in the box with an accurate cross that pushed the latter past India keeper Sandhu to put Kuwait ahead 1–0.
India could have leveled the scores in under a minute, but Kuwait goalkeeper Abdul Rahman blocked Chhangte’s long ranger.
But Chhangte, who was named AIFF Men’s Player of the Year on Tuesday, could not be denied for a second time in the 39th minute.
After a nice exchange of passes between Sahal Abdul Samad and captain Chhetri, the latter found an unmarked Chhangte deep in the box. India’s energetic number 12, Chhangte had little trouble beating Abdul Rahman to find the equalizer.
It to some extent made up for Chhetri’s failure to score during regulation time for the second game in a row.
In the second half, the action continued to flow thick and fast as both India and Kuwait looked for the winner.
Both sides came close to scoring their respective second goals, but were unable to do so, as the game headed towards extra time for the second consecutive time for both teams.
The extra time also witnessed frantic action from both sides. There were a few injuries, yellow cards for players and officials from both sides and a slew of corner kicks.
But that the decisive goal did not come through, so that a penalty shootout was mandatory to choose the winner.
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