'Vande Mataram': Indian Fans Serenade Sunil Chhetri and Co. Following SAFF Championships Title Triumph

Team India edged out Kuwait on penalties to clinch their 9th SAFF Championship trophy on Tuesday at the Sree Kanteerava Stadium in Bengaluru.

The match was tied 1-1 at full time and extra time couldn’t separate the teams either as the summit clash had to be decided in a shootout.

In an enthralling finale to the campaign, the shootout score was level at 4-4 after both teams had taken five kicks each and the sudden death rule came into play.

Mahesh Singh netted India’s follow-up penalty before Gurpreet Singh Sandhu got his hand to a Kuwaiti penalty as he kept Khaled Hajiah’s effort out of the net to send the home crowd into delirium.

The passionate crowd at the Kanteerava bore witness to one of India’s finest campaigns in recent memory as they serenaded the players with their rendition of Vande Mataram.

India conceded the lead early in the summit clash as Kuwait’s Shabib Al Khaldi netted for the visitors in the 14th minute of the game.

But, India hit back through the country’s senior player of the year awardee, Lalianzuala Chhangte in the 38th minute. Chhangte, who has been in incredible form off late has churned out inspiring performance time and again and his crucial leveller in the championship game took the game to extra time and eventually penalties, which India made no mistake converting.

Indian head coach Igor Stimac, who was handed a touchline ban for his red card against the very same opponents in the final group game, has revolutionised the way the game is played and the title just goes to prove the amount of work the Indian football team has been doing on and off the field, and is a testament to the fact that the game is headed in the right direction.

India went the entire tournament unbeaten as they opened the tournament with a 4-0 win over Pakistan, before brushing Nepal aside in a 2-0 win. A draw against Kuwait in the final group game followed before a semi-final win over Lebanon on tie-breaker penalties.

India repeated their heroics in Bengaluru to claim a crucial title that highlights all the incredible effort of the unit.