India wins SAFF Championship
India won a thrilling match to win its ninth SAFF Championship, now called the Bangabandhu SAFF Championship. The match stretched to the tie-breaker, and to sudden death beyond the five shots each team hit. India won 5-4, after the match ended 1-1 even after extra time.
Ultimately, it was goalkeeper Gurpreet Singh Sandhu’s heroics which saved the day for the Blue Tigers. He saved the last shot from the Kuwait captain Khaled Hajiah.
Incidentally, Sandhu had saved another shot by a captain, from Lebanon’s Hassan Matouk, in the semi-final tie-breaker (he had also saved Matouk’s free kick in the match).
For India, Udanta Singh, who had come on as a substitute, missed in the tie-breaker.
Kuwait broke the deadlock in the 14th minute through Alkhaldi, and then Lallianzuala Chhangee tied the score for India in the 39th minute.
There were lots of fouls in the match, especially in the first half.
India captain Sunil Chhetri won both the Golden Ball (best player of the tournament) and Golden Boot (highest scorer) awards.
The 2023 win was India’s ninth in 13 finals appearances. In the only tournament India did not reach the final, in 2003, it came third.
