SAFF Championship 2023 Final: In Kuwait Rout, India Conquer Nerves & Naysayers

India Conquer Nerves & Naysayers

 Recently, India won the SAFF Championship, 2023 by defeating Kuwait.

In the final match of the championship, India defeated Kuwait in 'sudden death'. It is worth noting that even in 'Penalty Shootout', if the goal score is tied, the 'Sudden Death' rule is applicable.

After the penalty shootout was tied at 4-4 goals, Mahesh Norem scored for India in sudden death while Kuwait captain Khalid Hajiya's shot was blocked by Indian goalkeeper Gurpreet Sandhu.

The SAFF Championship, 2023 was held at Bangalore (Sri Kantirava Stadium).

It is to be noted that Lebanon and Kuwait were playing as guest countries in this championship, while Sri Lanka did not participate in it due to the ban.

A total of 8 countries participated in this championship.

The 'Golden Glove' award of the tournament went to Bangladeshi goalkeeper 'Anisur Rahman Giko' with 15 goals saved.

The 'Fair Play' award of the tournament was captured by Nepal with only 4 yellow cards.

At the same time, Indian goalkeeper Gurpreet Sandhu was the 'Man of the Match' in the final match.

2 major awards of the championship 'Golden Boot' and 'Golden Ball' were given to Indian captain 'Sunil Chhetri'. Chhetri scored a total of 5 goals including 1 hat-trick in the tournament and also became the highest goalscorer (25 goals) in the history of this championship.

• India in the SAFF Championship
•        India has become the champion for the 9th time this year in the SAFF Championship. Before this, India has been the winner in the years 1993, 1997, 1999, 2005, 2009, 2011, 2015, 2021. Also, India has been the runner-up in the years 1995, 2008, 2013 and 2018.
• After India, only Maldives has won this championship twice (years 2008 and 2018) among the remaining member countries.

SAFF

•        The South Asian Football Federation (SAFF) is an organization dedicated to the development of football in the South Asian region.
•       It was formed in the year 1997 by the merger of football associations of Bangladesh, India, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka.
• 
  
• In the year 2000, the Bhutan Football Association also joined, increasing SAFF's membership to 7.
•    SAFF's motto is "Shakti mein Ekta", which signifies the strength and bond of these 7 member associations.Its secretariat is in Dhaka.
•   
• Its first president P. P. Laxman, whose tenure lasted from 1997 to 2001.