SAFF Championship: India beat Lebanon on penalties, enter final

Clinical with penalties and combative through 120 and more goalless minutes, defending champions India beat Lebanon 4-2 in the tie-breaker on Saturday to enter the final of the SAFF Championships where Kuwait lie in wait.

After his right arm kept out a Hassan Matouk free kick in the first half, Gurpreet Singh Sandhu’s left arm denied the Lebanon skipper in the shootout, which ended with Khalil Bader blasting over and collapsing in tears. The fifth set of shots were not needed after Sunil Chhetri, Anwar Ali, Mahesh Naorem and Udanta Singh had converted for India to get 19,640 at Bengaluru’s Sree Kanteerava Stadium roaring in joy. Walid Shour and Mohamad Sadek scored for Lebanon, who have now lost twice in less than a month to India.

“A great win which shows the hard work we put in over the past five-six weeks. The team deserves credit for showing composure and hitting the target in the penalties,” said Sandhu.

Lebanon had two early chances but India, back in the FIFA top 100, grew in the game and finished stronger of the teams. Chhetri had a snap right-footer saved by goalkeeper Mehdi Khalil and then failed to keep a volley on target. That was in the first half of extra-time. In the second, Singh went on a strong solo run and was denied by three players converging on him and Lallianzuala Chhangte, fed by Naorem, had his shot stopped by the goalkeeper.

With Chhangte on the right and Ashique Kuruniyaan and Subhasish Bose on the left, India tested Lebanon from the flanks after a nervy start. Zein Al Abidine Farran went around Bose in the first minute and crossed from the right. Matouk couldn’t get to it but Nader Matar did, and skied it. In the eighth minute, Farran streaked through space between Bose and left-side central defender Anwar Ali but Sandhu kept out the shot.

The idea of starting with Bose and Kotal meant India opted for defensive solidity. It was only in the second half that India introduced Nikhil Poojary for Pritam Kotal and Akash Mishra for Bose to try and break the deadlock.

That could have happened in the 17th minute after Chhetri found Jeakson Singh but the midfielder whose tackles helped in transition passed instead of going for goal. Three minutes later, Kotal didn’t get enough on his header. Lebanon paid for poor finishing and a standout show from their central defender George Melki was responsible for India getting few clear chances.

Kuwait beat Bangladesh 1-0 in the other semi-final.

AIFF accused of unfair practice

The All India Football Federation (AIFF) has been accused of paying ₹9.42 crore to a Kolkata-based company for producing broadcast content for different competitions, including the 2022-23 I-League. An email from Gopalkrishna Kosaraju, former president of Andhra Pradesh Football Association, sent to AIFF office-bearers said the production cost for the I-League was ₹7.98 crore, over three times what was spent in 2021-22 and that due process was not followed while issuing the tender. AIFF has denied the claim saying all the processes in awarding broadcast contracts were followed.