SAFF Championship: India defeat Lebanon in penalty shootout to book a spot in the final

Sunil Chhetri's India on Saturday stormed into the finals of SAFF Championship 2023 as they edged past Lebanon in the semifinal of the tournament on penalties. The Blue Tigers make their way into the summit clash on consecutive occasions and will face Kuwait in the final to defend their crown. India defeated Lebanon in the last four clash on penalties by 4-2.

India were not at their best in the first half of the game but they did not concede a goal in either half. India pressed hard to find an opening but a goal kept eluding them. The match went into extra time and none of the team could break the deadlock, forcing a penalty shootout with India scoring four goals in four attempts and Lebanon managing only 2 in their four attempts.

A happy Chhetri said that India will first rest and then think about the final. "It wasn’t easy. We’re gonna go back



and rest well. They are not easy to play against. It went into penalties and we are so happy that we kept our focus and won the match. We are not thinking of the final. We are just going to go back and recuperate and then think about the final," the Indian captain said.

"It’s great for us. The work that we are doing for the last few weeks is showing now, ensuring a clean sheet for 120 minutes and then keeping our composure to keep out shots on target to go on an win," India's goalkeeper Gurpreet Singh Sandhu said after the win.

India will now be locking horns against Kuwait in the final of the tournament to defend their title. The match is scheduled to take place on July 4. Kuwait also made it to the finals after their win over Bangladesh in the first semifinal of the tournament earlier in the day. Kuwait edged past Bangladesh by 1-0 in the extra time.