Anurag Thakur praises Indian football team to secure SAFF Championship final spot in penalty shootout against Lebanon

New Delhi [India], July 2 (ANI): Union Sports Minister Anurag Thakur praised the Indian football team for their brilliant win over Lebanon in a penalty shootout in the semi-final to secure their place in SAFF Championship final.

India defeated Lebanon 4-2 in a penalty shootout to storm into the SAFF Championship 2023 final at Bengaluru on Saturday.
Anurag Thakur wrote on his Twitter handle, “#BlueTigers through to #SAFF2023 Final with 4 amazing kicks and few fantastic saves from goalkeeper @GurpreetGK, Team India defeated Lebanon 4-2 in a penalty shootout to reach their 13th #SAFFChampionship Final Brilliant effort team, best of luck for the final against Kuwait #IndianFootball.”

India will take on Kuwait in the final on Tuesday. India have also moved up one spot to 100th in latest FIFA rankings.

In the other semi-final, Kuwait reached the final after defeating Bangladesh 1-0.

It was left to penalties to decide the semi-final match after regulation time finished without a goal and extra time failed to produce a winner. Hassan Maatouk and Khalil Bader for Lebanon missed their penalties in the shootout while India converted all four of theirs.

India has previously defeated Lebanon twice, most recently by 2-0 margin in the Intercontinental Cup 2023 final.

India drew 1-1 with Kuwait in their last Group A match after defeating Pakistan 4-0 in their first meeting.