BENGALURU: In the end, it was nervy! But a spirited display by India saw them progress to the final of the SAFF Championships, downing Lebanon in a match that went all the way to a penalty shootout at the Sree Kanteerava Stadium on Saturday.
Despite India having the better of it, the game remained goalless in normal time and the subsequent thirty added minutes. In the penalty shootout, India converted all four of their spot-kicks while Lebanon failed with two of their four efforts.
It was Lebanon who started stronger and the opening exchanges featured a few nervy moments for India. Their line-up included a number of new faces from the one that lost to India in the final of the Intercontinental Cup and it showed.
The Blue Tigers, though, regained control of the game as the first half went on, rediscovering their combative edge. The first real chance for India came in the 16th minute as Sahal Abdul Samad failed to get the ball on target from close range, after being fed by Sunil Chhetri. Then, just four minutes later, Pritam Kotal missed his chance after being found at the far post.
India never did look as threatening in the rest of the first half as they did in the opening ten minutes, but that is not to say Lebanon did not have their chances. The best of those came in the 41st minute as a freekick from Nader Matar forced Indian keeper Gurpreet Singh Sandhu into an acrobatic save.
The second half picked off where the first had ended, as both teams fought aggressively for the ball. With India coach Igor Stimac banned for the rest of the tournament, it was left to Lebanon coach Aleksander Ilic to provide the touchline histrionics as he furiously protested almost every single one of the referee’s decisions.
Lebanon went close in the 58th minute as Matar again went close, firing narrowly wide after being found by Hussein Zein. But it was obvious that, after a hard-fought hour, the Lebanese players were tiring. Players were staying down more often, allowing their teammates to catch their breath.
India attempted to exploit any such fatigue, refreshing their lineup with a triple substitution in the 74th minute. Akash Mishra, Mahesh Singh Naorem and Rohit Kumar came on for Subashish Bose, Sahal and Anirudh Thapa.
With just five minutes left for normal time to end, Indian players were up in arms as what looked like a handball within the Lebanon penalty area went unpunished by the referee. The Indians pressed relentlessly for a winner with a succession of corners, one of which even struck the crossbar. But whatever was left of normal time ended without a goal.
The first real chance of extra time went to Chhetri who forced a fingertip save from Lebanon keeper Mehdi Khalil. That set the tone as India piled on the pressure on their tired opponents with attack after attack. It wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say that some of India’s best football came in extra time, shouted on by a boisterous 19,000-strong crowd. India almost had the winner in the 112th minute as a scintillating run from substitute Udanta Singh forced Khalil into a last-ditch save. However, the four spot-kick takers — Chhetri, Mahesh, Anwar Ali and Udanta — and Gurpreet, made sure that their team triumphed in the shootouts.