SAFF Championship 2023: India win thrilling penalty shootout to claim ninth title

The Indian men’s football team won the SAFF Championship 2023 title after beating Kuwait 5-4 in a thrilling penalty shootout at the Sree Kanteerava Stadium in Bengaluru on Tuesday.

India, who are 100th in the latest FIFA rankings, won their ninth SAFF Championship 2023 in 14 editions. This was India’s second silverware on the trot after clinching the Intercontinental Cup last month.    

After the regulation time ended 1-1 and neither team could score in the extra time, the final came down to penalties. Kuwait’s captain Hajjeia missed the decisive spotkick in sudden death.

In regulation time, the newly-crowned AIFF Player of the Year Lallianzuala Chhangte (39’) had equalised for India after Shabaib Al Khaldi (14’) had given the Kuwait football team the early lead.

Indian head coach Igor Stimac, who was banned from the touchline and had to watch the match from the stands, made three changes from the starting eleven that started against Lebanon in the semi-finals. Akash Mishra and Nikhil Poojary returned as full-backs while Sandesh Jhingan, who was suspended in the previous match, returned to replace Mehtab Singh at the heart of the defence.

India, playing with a four-man defence, started on a cautious note and resorted to counter-attacks. Kuwait, meanwhile, pressed high and attacked the Indian half with incisive crosses and through-balls. It was the visitors who took the early lead via Shabaib Al Khaldi, a quarter into the match.

Al Feneeni dribbled into the Indian half and cut the ball back for an unmarked Shabaib Al Khaldi in the box, who slotted it past the Indian goalkeeper to give Kuwait a 1-0 lead.

Trailing by a goal, India pushed their men forward in search of the equaliser, Minutes later the hosts had a golden opportunity to level the scores but Lallianzuala Chhangte’s long-range shot was saved by goalkeeper Mubarak Marzouq.

As the game progressed, India grew in confidence and attacked the Kuwait half in waves. The hosts managed to score the equaliser during one such move. Ashique Kuruniyan won the ball in the Kuwait half and passed it to Sunil Chhetri. The Indian football team captain sent in a weighted through-ball to Lallianzuala Chhangte, who slotted it in to make it 1-1.

The first half ended with scores deadlocked at 1-1.      

Towards the beginning of the second half, Nikhil Pooojary and Lallianzuala Chhangte combined on the right and made overlapping runs down the flank in an attempt to get the ball to Sunil Chhetri. However, the alert Kuwait defence thwarted any dangers.

India had a golden opportunity to go ahead in the match in the 62nd minute when Kuwait goalkeeper Mubarak Marzouq’s kick was headed back by Sunil Chhetri towards Lallianzuala Chhangte. The Mizoram player’s weak shot at the goal, though, was comfortably collected by the Kuwait custodian.

As the clock ticked away, the game turned into a feisty affair with the referee dishing out yellow cards to the players on both sides.

With minutes left in the regulation time, Kuwait almost scored the winner when Mohammad Abdhulla intercepted a throw-in and sent the ball flying towards the Indian goal but an alert Gurpreet Singh Sandhu made a brilliant save to deny the visitors a certain goal.

Regulation time ended with scores level at 1-1, forcing the match into extra time.

Both teams had several chances to clinch the match in the extra time but neither could score the decisive goal as the final progressed into the penalty shootout, where India claimed a thrilling win.      

En route to the final, the Indian football team beat Lebanon in the semi-finals after finishing the group stage with wins over Pakistan and Nepal while drawing against Kuwait.