Bengaluru: India drew with Kuwait with a 1-1 scoreline at Sree Kanteerava Stadium, Bengaluru at the SAFF Championship 2023.
In a match full of ups and downs, Sunil Chhetri scored his 92nd for India. A perfect volley in the high-tempered match put India ahead of the game at the halftime stroke. However, an unlucky own goal from Anwar Ali in second-half injury time put a heartbreaking and unfortunate end to India’s hopes of topping the group.
Despite ending with the same number of points and goal difference, the West Asians finished first in the rankings due to scoring one more goal than the hosts.India got out to a fast start, stifling Kuwait with pressure in the final and middle thirds. Naorem Mahesh Singh, who scored his first international goal the previous game, was wreaking havoc on the left wing.
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India’s combative style resulted in a little setback in the 14th minute, when Sandesh Jhingan was booked and banned for Saturday’s semi-final. While Kuwait exhaled a sigh of relief as Anwar headed wide from a Thapa corner, Chhetri made sure that wasn’t the case the following time.
Moments before halftime, facing another Thapa corner, the captain expertly buried the ball into the back of the net with a side-footed volley from 12 yards out, nearly hiding in plain sight against Kuwait’s zonal defending.
Kuwait came out with much of urgency after the interval, and while Rui Bento’s team was given more time on the ball, India remained dominating in the defensive third. Stimac was issued a red card following a disagreement with referee Alomgir as the game neared the final ten minutes, the Croatian’s second of the tournament.
Substitute Rohit Kumar had a wonderful chance to seal the Blue Tigers’ victory but could only head Udanta’s low cross from just outside the six-yard box.In the 84th minute, Amrinder made another excellent stop to his superb performance in goal, pushing aside a ferocious left-footed effort from Al-Khaldi.
After Stimac’s dismissal, Sahal Abdul Samad was fouled in the Kuwait half, and the West Asians delayed a speedy restart, culminating in a fight in which Hamad Al-Qallaf and Rahim Ali were handed red.
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However, India’s eight-match clean-sheet streak came to a stop. Anwar Ali attempted to hook Abdullah Al-Bloushi’s harmless-looking cross from the right into the Indian goal.
