In the extra time of the India vs Lebanon semi-final in the South Asian Football Federation (SAFF) Championship, Sunil Chettri was served with a sitter of a ball in the Lebanon 7-metre area by Udanta Singh from the right wing, but the Indian skipper missed the shot and there never came a second chance for him to redeem himself, until the penalty shoot-out.
In the shoot-out, none of the Indian players missed from the penalty spot while two Lebanon penalty takers, Khalil Bader and Hassan Mattouk missed the chance as Indian goalkeeper Gurpreet Singh Sandhu turned out to be the hero of the match. India won 4-2 on penalties after the match ended 0-0 in regulation time.
The slow start
The match began slowly with no team being able to create chances. The closest India came was in the 13th minute when Sahal Abdul Samad, after getting the pass in the D from Chhetri, played it forward for Aniruddh Thapa, instead of going for the goal.
Pace picked up after the first half
When the first half ended, both teams looked eager to break the deadlock. Before coming to India for the Intercontinental Cup in June (a tournament hosted just ahead of the SAFF Championship), Lebanon were ranked higher than the hosts in the FIFA rankings. However, now when they are going back, they have fallen behind.
To make sure that this didn’t happen, the Lebanese team tried their best in the semi-final, but were unfortunately unsuccessful.
Six Yellow cards shown
In their attempt to not lose, Lebanon were rough on the field and as a result, handed four yellow cards. India too got two bookings to make it a six-yellow card game.
India lead in possession, shots and shots on target
India held possession of the ball for a significant amount of time. It was obvious that with 61% ball possession, India would be the team creating most of the chances. The Blue Tigers had 19 attempts on goal, with six of them being on target. At the same time, Lebanon had 13 shots, out of which four tested Gurpreet in the goal. India completed 571 passes but also led in fouls, committing 19 as compared to their West Asian opponent’s 16. Igor Stimac’s side also led in corners as they had 8 while Lebanon had only two to their name.
Anwar Ali redeems himself, India win
In the final, India wll take on Kuwait who beat Bangladesh in the other semi-final 1-0. The final will take place at the Sree Kanteerava Stadium in Bengaluru on July 04, 2023.
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