WATCH: Crowd chants Vande Mataram after Gurpreet Singh Sandhu's winning save in SAFF Championship final

Gurpreet Singh Sandhu, India’s shot-stopper, used the tried-and-true strategy for defending penalty kicks—predict a side and dive, leaving the result to chance—as his save influenced India's victory over Kuwait in the SAFF Championship final in Bengaluru. After 120 minutes of scoreless play on Tuesday night, India defeated Lebanon 4-5 on penalties to come up as the winners of the continental competition for the ninth time in history. The crowd chanted ‘Vande Mataram’ on the winning moment to create an atmosphere to remember.

Advertisment

Here's the viral video:

Crowd chanting Vande Mataram after that winning save by Gurpreet 😍❤
What a atmosphere for football match finally 🎯❤#IndianFootball#SAFFChampionship2023pic.twitter.com/JlmjRmvPhr

— Mayur (@133_AT_Hobart) July 4, 2023

After regulation time ended with a score of 1-1 and neither team was able to score in extra, the game was won on penalties. Kuwait's captain Hajjeia missed the key penalty kick in sudden death. After Shabaib Al Khaldi had given Kuwait's football team the lead earlier in the first quarter (14′), Lallianzuala Chhangte, the recently-named AIFF Player of the Year, levelled the score for India in the final minute of regulation.

‘I try to stay big until the last moment, choose a side’ – Gurpreet Singh Sandhu

"As a goalkeeper, all I want to do is make the penalty-taker's job tough. I try to stay big until the last moment, choose a side, and get a hand to the ball," Sandhu said after the intense shootout in the final of the SAFF Championship.  "You can't save every penalty. But you try to know what the taker is thinking. Someone will try to trick you, someone will come with a pre-decided shot. The experience and physicality help. If I'm five-foot-four, I wouldn't have saved that penalty, for sure," he added.

Advertisment

Assistant coach Mahesh Gawli, filling in for the suspended Igor Stimac, was full of appreciation for the Indian Goalie. "His save gave a lot of confidence to our players, who came to take the next penalties," he said. He also revealed that the Indian players led by captain fantastic Sunil Chhetri decided among themselves the order of spot-kick takers. "It is the players' decision (to step up for penalties). They have freedom. Whoever has the confidence goes up to take the penalties," he stated.