New Delhi: Sunil Chhetri-led team India defeated Kuwait in the tense penalty shoot-out to clinch The South Asian Football Federation Championship (SAFF) for the ninth time at the Sree Kanteerava stadium in Bengaluru.
🇮🇳 INDIA are SAFF 𝐂𝐇𝐀𝐌𝐏𝐈𝐎𝐍𝐒 for the 9️⃣th time! 💙
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🏆 𝟮𝟬𝟮𝟯#SAFFChampionship2023 #BlueTigers 🐯 #IndianFootball ⚽ pic.twitter.com/3iLJQSeyWG— Indian Football Team (@IndianFootball) July 4, 2023
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‘Vande Mataram’ echoes the stadium
Young winger Naorem Mahesh Singh made no mistake and scored the goal in the sudden death. After that, India’s goalkeeper Gurpreet Singh Sandhu saved the shot from Kuwait’s skipper Khaled Hajiah. It was the moment when Indian crowd shed the tears of joy and sang ‘Vande Mataram.’
ᴛʜᴇ ᴡɪɴɴɪɴɢ ᴍᴏᴍᴇɴᴛ 💙🇮🇳
Watch the #BlueTigers rejoice after @GurpreetGK’s penalty save 🤩😍
Yes, take a bow, OUR WALL 🧱💪🏽#KUWIND ⚔️ #SAFFChampionship2023 🏆 #IndianFootball ⚽️ pic.twitter.com/OlzUbjVXKJ
— Indian Football Team (@IndianFootball) July 5, 2023
Evolution of Indian football from 2018 to 2023
Back in 2018, Indian skipper Sunil Chhetri had posted a video on Twitter. Chhetri had then urged Indian fans to visit stadiums, watch India play and back the team. He even went on to say that it would be all right if the spectators come to criticise or even abuse them but urged them to at least come to the stadiums, instead of commenting it about the performance on the social media.
Fast forward from 2018 to 2023, when India lifted the coveted trophy for the ninth time, a lot of changes in the Indian football team’s as well as the supporters’ attitude are quite visible. From criticising on social media to showering support at a jam-packed stadium, Indians fans backed the Chhetri-led side like shadows.
This was the atmosphere that India was missing and finally they got their much needed love, a ‘crowd support.’ The mesmerising chants of ‘India-India’ and guess what India really delivered.
2018 vs. 2023. Indian football has come a long way.#BlueTigers #IndianFootball #SunilChhetri pic.twitter.com/C5NASNOmoM
— The Middle man (@nolandsman_) July 5, 2023
India’s performance in intercontinental Cup
For the first time in 47-years The Indian men’s football team beat Lebanon 2-0 to win the Intercontinental Cup 2023 at the Kalinga Stadium in Bhubaneswar. Back then, Indian skipper Sunil Chhetri gave the ‘Blue Tigers’ much needed lead in the first minute of the second half.
India’s ranking at FIFA
Indian football team’s current FIFA Ranking is 100. The Blue Tigers were on 106 in March but have gained points on the back of recent wins and clean sheets in May-June 2023 games cycle.
Team India were 104 but lost two places and found themselves at 106 in June 2022. Then, victories in back-to-back tournaments improved India’s ranking and landed the team at 100. Earlier in the year 2018, India had ended at the 97th spot, their best performance in the last decade.
