WATCH | India secures SAFF Championship victory with penalty shootout save by Gurpreet Singh Sandhu

07/05/2023

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As Gurpreet Singh Sandhu dove to his left to avoid the sudden death penalty from Kuwait's captain, the crowded Kanteerava Stadium erupted, giving India its ninth SAFF Championship victory. The Indian goalie repeated his heroics from the semis against Lebanon on Tuesday evening.

After 120 minutes of play, when the score remained at 1-1, a penalty shootout was the only way forward and the Indians did not disappoint there. Sunil Chhetri, the captain of India, converted the first penalty, while Abdullah of Kuwait missed the crossbar. Then it was the turn of Udanta Singh to miss. Eventually, the scores were tied at 4-4.

Then it was India's Naorem Singh who scored, but Kuwait captain Khaled Hajiah's effort was saved by diving Sandhu. After defeating Lebanon 4-2 in a penalty shootout in the semifinal on July 1, India won the second game in a row in the shootout. In the shootout at the time, Sandhu had also produced a significant stop.

Sunil Chhetri, the team's captain, Sandesh Jhingan, Chhangte, Subasish Bose, and Mahesh all scored goals for India.