“Playing like Italy; Bring the cup home,” fans hail Gurpreet Singh Sandhu after India beats Lebanon on penalties to advance to reach SAFF Championship final
India will face Kuwait in the SAFF championship finals.
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India vs Lebanon (Image Via- firstpost)
India defeated Lebanon in a thrilling match on Saturday and booked their spot in the SAFF Championship final for the ninth consecutive time at the Sree Kanteerava Stadium. The match ended goalless in the regular play of 120 minutes and went into the penalty shootout. Gurpreet Singh Sandhu’s heroics under the crossbar meant that India came out as winners of the tie 4-2.
Although the Indian defense did fumble in the early minutes of the game, they managed to keep Lebanon strikers at bay. Both teams were evenly matched with a flare of attack seen in between from both sides, but nothing serious to trouble the scoreline. India had a firm grip over the match and Sahal Abdul Samad’s intelligent play continued to pin the Lebanese to their side of the pitch.
The second half, in a similar vein, showed how much the Blue Tigers have improved under Igor Stimac in terms of control over possession. There is a clear mark of European football in terms of how Chhetri and Co. recycle the ball.
However, the flurry of misses continued to frustrate the fans despite the positives. It was destined to stay goalless in the ascertained normal time, it seemed. The match did not fare any better during the extra time as India continued to turn the screw and Lebanon threatened in counters.
During the penalties, India finally managed to assert their superiority as Gurpreet Singh Sandhu parried Lebanon’s first attempt from Hassan Maatouk. The Mediterranean side never recovered from this blow and they eventually succumbed to 4-2. Sandhu was the hero of the match for Stimac’s team while Captain Chhetr had a rare off night.
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Fans excited as India defeated Lebanon 4-2 in penalties and reached the SAFF Championship 2023 finals
Chhetri and his boys cruised to another perfect victory and kept their track clean this season in the SAFF Championship. In the tournament’s finale, India will now face Kuwait. They overcame Bangladesh with a single extra-time goal to reach the SAFF Championship final.
Fans are very excited to see the Blue Tigers reach another final. Many fans even took to their Social Media to share their excitement. One fan wrote, “Lol, they tried to play mind games for no reason with that gk substitution. Now get that win we deserved last match against Kuwait, in the final.” Another fan wrote, “Yesss, India won !!! Sandhu the hero for India against Lebanon in the semis. Great composure by all the penalty-takers of the Blue Tigers.” And a third fan wrote, “India playing final of SAFF championship. Won in the semis against Lebanon 4-2 in penalties.”
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Supratim Banerjee
(312 Articles Published)