In a nail-biting match, India gained the match in opposition to Lebanon within the SAFF Championship 2023 semifinal on 1 July by a 4-2 penalty shootout. With this, India reached the finals of the event.
India will now face Kuwait within the finals of the event, who defeated Bangladesh by a solitary extra-time purpose to succeed in the ultimate of the SAFF Championship.
ALSO READ: SAFF Championship 2023 accused of ‘very very dangerous refereeing’ as Indian coach Igor Stimac will get despatched off
Now India shall be enjoying within the closing of the regional event for the thirteenth time and ninth on the trot. They’ve gained eight occasions within the earlier 13 editions. The one time India didn’t make it to the highest two was in 2003.
Skipper Sunil Chhetri, Anwar Ali, Mahesh Singh and Udanta Singh discovered the again of the web for India within the penalty shootout. Whereas, Lebanon might solely rating twice by Walid Shour and Mohammad Sadek lacking the primary and the fourth shot.
Indian goalkeeper Gurpreet Sandhu saved the kick from Hassan Maatouk whereas Khalil Bader’s sailed above the crossbar.
Previous to this, India defeated Lebanon 2-0 within the latest Intercontinental Cup in Odisha, so it was a second successive for India over Lebanon.
Led by captain Sunil Chhetri, India confronted Hassan Maatouk-led Lebanon within the SAFF Championship 2023 semifinal on the Sree Kanteerava Stadium in Bengaluru on Saturday.
Thus far India remained unbeaten, because it started its journey within the event with a convincing 4-0 victory over Pakistan, and adopted it up with a 2-0 win over Nepal. Although India’s final match led to a 1-1 draw in opposition to Kuwait.
India missed their head coach Igor Stimac as he obtained a crimson card within the match in opposition to Kuwait.
Quite the opposite, Lebanon began the event with a 2-0 win in opposition to Bangladesh, thrashed Bhutan within the subsequent fixture, and recorded a 1-0 win in opposition to the Maldives.
With company inputs.
Up to date: 01 Jul 2023, 11:00 PM IST