SAFF Championship 2023: India finish second in Group A after 1-1 draw against Kuwait
Sunil Chhetri equalled the record for most goals at SAFF Championship. An own goal from defender Anwar Ali in the 92nd minute ended India’s streak of eight clean sheets.
Football
The Indian men’s football team finished second in Group A of the SAFF Championship 2023 after a 1-1 draw against Kuwait at the Sree Kanteerava Stadium in Bengaluru on Tuesday.
Sunil Chhetri gave India the lead in the second minute of injury time in the first half. It was Sunil Chhetri’s 92nd international goal in his 140th international and his 23rd in the SAFF Championship to equal the record of Maldivian legend Ali Ashfaq.
However, an own goal by Indian defender Anwar Ali in the 92nd minute put Kuwait back on level terms and gave them the top position in Group A.
India and Kuwait had already qualified for the semi-finals with wins over Pakistan and Nepal in their previous matches. The two teams were also level on points and goal difference but since Kuwait scored more goals in their last two matches, India needed a win to top their group.
The 1-1 result against Kuwait ended the Indian football team’s streak of clean sheets at eight matches. India will know their semi-final opponents after Group B, led by Lebanon, concludes on Wednesday.
India started the match with six changes and attacking intent. Ashique Kuruniyan, Mahesh Singh and Lallaianzuala Chhangte, three of India’s six changes, made their presence felt from the flanks but their efforts were not converted from the box.
Kuwait, 42 places below India in the FIFA Rankings at 143rd, matched India’s intensity in the first 30 minutes of the game. They almost took the lead in the 26th minute through their main man Shabaib Al-Khaldi but the goal was disallowed for an earlier foul.
The visitors looked threatening for the rest of the first half but Sunil Chhetri’s precise volley in the second minute of injury time of Anirudh Thapa’s corner turned the game in India’s favour.
The second half continued to be an end-to-end affair but Kuwait’s relentless high press could not break the resilient Indian backline.
In the 82nd minute, Lallianzuala Chhangte and Sunil Chhetri made way for Udanta Singh and Rahim Ali after being substituted.
Rahim Ali, however, was handed a red card along with Kuwait’s Hamad Alqallaf in the 92nd minute. A 10-men India conceded the equaliser in the second minute of the extra time after Abdullah Al Bloushi's desperate cross from the right got the touch of Indian defender Anwar Ali and went straight into the goal.
India will play their semi-final match at the same venue on Saturday.