India claim their ninth SAFF Championship, beat Kuwait on penalties
Indian football team defeated Kuwait on penalties to lift their record ninth SAFF Championship. The Blue Tigers won the match 5-4 in tiebreaker. Kuwait scored first through Shabib Al Khaldi in the 14th minute which was cancelled in the 38th minute by a fine strike from Lallianzuala Chhangte. However, after that, the two teams kept their doors shut for 120 minutes and forced penalties.
21-game unbeaten run for India
India remain unbeaten for 21 games now in all competitions. The Blue Tigers faced their last defeat against Qatar in June 2021, in the FIFA World Cup qualifiers. Before their group-stage draw against Kuwait, they kept nine consecutive clean sheets. They defeated Lebanon 4-2 on penalties after the teams were 0-0 after 120 minutes of play. In this tournament, they registered three clean sheets.
Ninth SAFF Championship title for India
Igor Stimac's men scripted history by winning the record ninth SAFF Championship honor. India have won the trophy the most times. They won their first title in 1993, followed by titles in 1997, 1999, 2005, 2009, 2011, 2015, 2021, and now in 2023. Maldives trail India, having won two SAFF Championship titles in 2008 and 2018. SL, Bangladesh and Afghanistan have won one apiece.
Chhetri attains this feat in SAFF Championship
Sunil Chhetri will be the third player to win the highest goal-scorer award in SAFF Championship in multiple editions. Ahmed Thariq (2005 and 2009) and Ali Ashfaq (2005 and 20013) are the other two players. Chhetri also won the award in the 2011 edition.
Here are the match stats
India registered seven shots to Kuwait's 14 attempts. However, India had four of them on target, while the visitors managed only three. India edged Kuwait as they clocked 52% possession and also had a passing accuracy percentage of 72. India also registered 388 passes.
How did the penalties pan out?
Chhetri handed India the lead, while Mohammed Daham struck the woodwork. Sandesh Jhingan made it 2-0 before Fawaz Otaibi opened Kuwait's account. Chhangte made it 3-1 before Ahmed Al-Dhefiri responded well. Udanta Singh skied his attempt as Abdul Naji made it 3-3. Subhashis Bose again handed India the lead 4-3 as Khaldi made no mistake. Mahesh Singh scored as Khalid Ebrahim missed his shot.
