SAFF Championship 2023: They say a new hero is born in a time of adversity. And for Indian Football Team, Gurpreet Singh Sandhu became the hero that we needed. His heroics in the penalty shootout helped India book their place in SAFF Championship 2023 finals.
In the second semi-final of the SAFF Championship, India was facing 102nd-ranked Lebanon. Lebanon was in a strong position while coming to the semi-final, as they had won three out of their three group-stage matches.
But the Indian defense completely shut them down. None of the Lebanese forwards were able to produce anything. And as the match went to a penalty shootout, Goalkeeper Gurpreet Singh Sandhu kept his calm and rode India to the finals.
A Thrilling Encounter
This contest was as thrilling as a football match can get. Both teams created a lot of chances, but none of them were able to capitalize on it. Especially India, who had 19 shots in the whole match but couldn’t find the back of the net.
When the regulation time and extra time couldn’t separate both teams, the match went onto the penalties. Mr. Reliable Sunil Chetrri took the first penalty for India and scored. Anwar Ali, Naorem Mahesh Singh, and Udanta Singh Kumam came after him and scored their respective penalties as well.
Gurpreet Singh Sandhu heroically saved the first penalty of Hassan Maatouk and correctly predicted Mohamad Sadek’s penalty but failed to save it. This put pressure on Khalil Bader, who skied his penalty, gifting India their win.
All Eyes On The Gold
India is looking to win the SAFF Championship with FIFA World Cup qualification in their mind. They will face Kuwait in the finals. Kuwait defeated Bangladesh in the first semi-final that was played on Saturday. The final will be on July 4th, and the men in blues are ready to win their second silverware of the year.
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