India clinches SAFF Championship with penalty shootout win over Kuwait
The HinduFor the second match running, Gurpreet Singh Sandhu starred for India as it beat Kuwait 5-4 on penalties to lift its ninth SAFF Championship title, at the Sree Kanteerava Stadium here on Tuesday. In the penalty shootout that ensued after the tie had finished 1-1, Sunil Chhetri, Sandesh Jhingan, Lallianzuala Chhangte and Subhashish Bose scored for India even as Udanta Singh missed. MATCH HIGHLIGHTS: India vs Kuwait, SAFF Championship final LIVE For Kuwait, Mohammed Abdullah’s spot-kick, first in the sequence, clattered off the bar, but Fawaz Alotaibi, Ahmad Aldhefeery, Abdulaziz Mahran and Shabaib Alkhaldi stretched it to sudden death. Once there, Naorem Mahesh slammed his penalty home before Gurpreet’s diving save to his left to thwart Kuwait captain Khaled Hajiah gave India its second trophy in under a month.