Bengaluru : indian football team beat Lebanon 4-2 in the penalty shootout here on Saturday saif championship entered the finals. Now in the final on July 4, the hosts will face Kuwait, who defeated Bangladesh 1-0 in the second semi-final. The Indian team has consistently made it to the finals of the SAFF Championship. India and Lebanon could not score even in extra time after the scheduled time, after which the decision was taken by penalty shootout.
India has reached the final for the ninth time in a row
Defending champions India beat Lebanon 4–2 in a tense penalty shootout after 120 minutes of goalless play. In the final on July 4, the home team will face Kuwait, who beat Bangladesh 1-0 in the day’s other semi-final. India will play in the final of the regional tournament for the 13th time and for the ninth time in a row. They have won eight times in the first 13 editions.
Team India’s star Shreyas Iyer arrived to watch the SAFF Championship, cheering for India while sitting in the stands
India’s great performance
The only time India could not make it to the top two was in 2003. Captain Sunil Chhetri, Anwar Ali, Mahesh Singh and Udanta Singh scored for India in the penalty shootout. India’s goalkeeper Gurpreet Sandhu saved Hasan Matouk’s kick while Khaleel Badar’s kick went over the crossbar. This was India’s second consecutive win over Lebanon after recently beating them 2-0 in the Intercontinental Cup in Odisha.
Initially Lebanon created pressure
In the beginning, Lebanon put full pressure on India. India was not even in the picture for the first 10 minutes. In the second minute, Lebanon got a great chance to move forward. But Nader Matar was too eager to execute the volley and made a mistake. In the first half, Lebanon were in better position and they got another chance to take the lead in the 42nd minute. However, captain Hasan Matook could not dodge Indian goalkeeper Gurpreet Sandhu.
decided by penalty shootout
The action continued at a brisk pace in the second half as well. But both India and Lebanon could not break the deadlock. Both sides also defended well. Chhetri could have scored twice in the 93rd and 95th minutes, but unexpectedly the Indian captain could not score on both occasions. In the end, the game got 30 minutes extra time, but that too turned out to be Benjita. In the end, India won the match in the penalty shootout.
