NB In Pics | India wins SAFF Championships title for 9th time; two titles in less than a month!

India lifted the SAFF Championship by getting better of Kuwait in the penalty shootout on Tuesday at the Sri Kanteerava Outdoor Stadium.

Goalkeeper Gurpreet Singh Sandhu made the difference for the Blue Colts once again as he saved a crucial penalty kick in the summit clash to help India beat Kuwait 5-4 in the shootout.

Mahesh Naorem scores, and Gurpreet saves Hajiah's penalty! IT'S ALL OVER!

KUW 1⃣-1️⃣ IND

🇰🇼: ❌ ✅ ✅ ✅ ✅ ❌
🇮🇳: ✅ ✅ ✅ ❌ ✅ ✅

📺 @FanCode & @ddsportschannel 📱#KUWIND ⚔️ #SAFFChampionship2023 🏆 #IndianFootball ⚽️ pic.twitter.com/7HEfywEJ64
— Indian Football Team (@IndianFootball) July 4, 2023

🤩 THAT. CHAMPION. FEELING. 🤩

Read all about 🇮🇳's 9️⃣th title 👉 https://t.co/rA29HrMW57 #KUWIND ⚔️ #SAFFChampionship2023 🏆 #IndianFootball ⚽️ pic.twitter.com/v1anQ8p7jl
— Indian Football Team (@IndianFootball) July 4, 2023

This is second title for India coming in less than a month after winning Hero Intercontinental Cup last month.

Hero Tri-Nation Cup ✅
Hero Intercontinental Cup ✅
Bangabandhu SAFF Championship ✅

Hat-trick of championships for 🇮🇳 🤩#KUWIND ⚔️ #IndianFootball ⚽️ pic.twitter.com/AaXq26vXik
— Indian Football Team (@IndianFootball) July 4, 2023

#SAFFChampionship2023 Awards 🏆

Highest Goalscorer award - @chetrisunil11

Most valuable player of the competition - @chetrisunil11

Best goalkeeper of the competition - Anisur Rahman Zico - Bangladesh

Fair play award - Nepal#IndianFootball ⚽️ pic.twitter.com/d8Y23QuFJ7
— Indian Football Team (@IndianFootball) July 5, 2023

After five rounds of penalty kicks, the scoreline was 4-4 with both sides missing a penalty each and the sudden death rule was kicked off.

🏆💙🏆#KUWIND ⚔️ #SAFFChampionship2023 🏆 #IndianFootball ⚽️ #BlueTigers 🐯 pic.twitter.com/QSVYnq7o2U
— Indian Football Team (@IndianFootball) July 5, 2023

Mahesh Naorem stepped up and scored for the Indian team. Sandhu had a difficult challenge in front of him as Kuwait captain Khaled Hajiah stepped in to bring back parity in the scoreline.

Nothing short of a spectacular night to remember

Congratulations India. So proud of you @chetri_sunil11 @stimacigor & the entire team

The rise of #IndianFootball has been truly remarkable

We are brave, We are THE #BlueTigers pic.twitter.com/XoGPZ3U3Xr
— Kalyan Chaubey (@kalyanchaubey) July 4, 2023

Sandhu made a diving save to keep Khaled's shot away from the goal line. As soon as he saved the penalty, he ran and pulled off an animated celebration in front of the home fans.

A nerve-wrecking penalty shootout which ended with another @GurpreetGK save and saw 🇮🇳 lift the #SAFFChampionship2023 🏆🤩

Watch the full match highlights on our YouTube channel 👉🏽 https://t.co/nqiyBhHDge #KUWIND ⚔️ #BlueTigers 🐯 #IndianFootball ⚽️ pic.twitter.com/yuuT4jLhfY
— Indian Football Team (@IndianFootball) July 5, 2023

With this win, Indian head coach 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.