India became the winner of SAFF Championship, the stadium echoed with Vande Mataram, Sunil Chhetri became emotional

In the SAFF Championship, hosts India defeated Kuwait 5-4 in the penalty shoot-out to lift the trophy for a record ninth time. With this victory, the Indian team has also completed its hat-trick. India have won their last three tournaments which includes the Nations Cup and the Intercontinental Cup. As soon as the Indian football team won this match, such a sight was witnessed here that probably no football fan and team will be able to forget.

 

India has won the final match in the presence of 30,000 spectators at the Kanteerao Stadium in Bangalore. As soon as the team won the match in this stadium, the fans present in the stadium started singing Vande Mataram together. The entire team also sang Vande Mataram song by AR Rahman along with the fans.

 

Goalkeeper Gurpreet Singh Sandhu dived to save the decisive penalty as India beat Kuwait 5-4 in a shootout to lift the SAFF Football Championship title for the ninth time. Both the teams were tied at 1-1 till 120 minutes of play. The score was still 4-4 after five rounds of the penalty shootout, after which the decision was taken on sudden death. Mahesh Norem scored and India’s goalkeeper Gurpreet Sandhu made a diving save to save Khalid Hajiya’s shot. Within regulation time, Shabaib Al Khalidi had given Kuwait the lead in the 14th minute, while Lalianzuala Changtene equalized for India in the 39th minute.

 

Defending champions India and Kuwait had also played out a 1-1 draw in the last group match. India has won the penalty shootout for the second time. Earlier on July 1, Lebanon was also defeated 4–2 in the penalty shootout in the semi-finals. In that match too, Sandhu did a great job in the shootout. 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 to Abdullah Al Blushi from the left wing.

 

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 Changte’s shot was saved by Kuwait goalkeeper Abdul Rahman. Chhangte, who was voted the FIFF’s best male player this year, 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. In extra time some players were injured, some players and officials also got yellow cards but the decisive goal could not be scored. After this the decision was taken by penalty shootout.