Indian team becomes SAFF U-17 Champion
The senior football team of India may be struggling to leave its mark, but the junior team is showing its light. India once again won the title at the Under-17 Championship of South Asian Football Federation (SAFF) played in Sri Lanka. The Indian Under-17 team defeated Bangladesh 4–1 in a penalty shootout in a thrilling match in the final played on Saturday 27 September and also won the title for the fourth and total 7th consecutive time.
India and Bangladesh collided on Saturday in the final of this championship played in Colombo. Even before reaching the final, both teams had shown their strength in the tournament. Where the Indian team won all 3 matches in their group and finished first. At the same time, Bangladesh also won all their matches and finished first in Group A. In the semi-finals again, Team India crushed Nepal 3–0, while in the second semi-final, Bangladesh defeated Pakistan 2–0 to make it to the finals.
In such a situation, an exciting competition was expected in the final match and the same happened. In this match, the Indian team first opened the account, when Gangte scored a goal in the fourth minute. Bangladesh, shortly after, equaled 1-1 in the 25th minute with the help of Mohammad Manik. But the Indian team did not take much time to return and in the 38th minute, Azlan Shah gave India a 2–1 lead. The same scoreline remained until the first half was over.
In the second half, both teams made many efforts but did not get success. But after the completion of the 90-minute game, in the 7th minute of injury time, Bangladesh scored a goal to bring the match to 2-2. Eventually the match ended at 2–2, after which a penalty shootout was resorted to for the verdict. Here Indian players showed their strength and converted 4 penalty into goals. At the same time, Bangladeshi players could score only 1 goal in front of the Indian goalkeeper and Team India won the shootout 4-1 and also captured the title.