BENGALURU: A glorious night in Indian football history unfolded on a terrific Tuesday at the Sree Kanteerava Stadium in Bengaluru, as the Blue Tigers defeated Kuwait 5-4 on penalties, to claim the Bangabandhu SAFF Championship 2023 title in Bengaluru.
In the summit clash of what was the biggest and most competitive SAFF Championship ever, Gurpreet Singh Sandhu’s winning save etched India’s ninth sub-continental title, adding another chapter to the nation’s regional supremacy. The game ended 1-1 after 120 minutes; Shabaib Al-Khaldi had put Kuwait in front early on, and newly-crowned AIFF Player of the Year Lallianzuala Chhangte equalised later in the first half.
With this win, Igor Stimac becomes the first foreign head coach to win back-to-back SAFF Championship titles. This was also the first time that India defeated two West Asian countries in back-to-back matches, after winning the semi-final against Lebanon, also on penalties.
AIFF President Mr. Kalyan Chaubey presented the winners’ trophy to India.
The awards for the night include:
- Fair play award – Nepal
- Best goalkeeper of the competition – Anisur Rahman Zico (Bangladesh)
- Highest Goalscorer award – Sunil Chhetri (India)
- Most valuable player of the competition – Sunil Chhetri (India)
- Winners – 50,000 USD (India)
- Runners-up – 25,000 USD (Kuwait)
