WATCH: Sunil Chhetri thanks fans for support after SAFF Championship triumph

Skipper Chhetri, who scored five goals in the tournament, thanked the various Indian football fan clubs for their support in an Instagram video on Wednesday.

India captain Sunil Chhetri after winning the SAFF Championship 2023 tournament in Bengaluru on Tuesday. | Photo Credit: K MURALI KUMAR/THE HINDU

Sunil Chhetri thanked the fans for supporting the Indian team during the SAFF Championship 2023 where it beat Kuwait in a thrilling penalty shootout in the final at the Kanteerava Stadium in Bengaluru on Tuesday to lift its ninth title.

Skipper Chhetri, who scored five goals in the tournament, thanked the various Indian football fan clubs for their support in an Instagram video on Wednesday.

In the penalty shootout that ensued after the tie had finished 1-1, Chhetri, Sandesh Jhingan, Lallianzuala Chhangte and Subhashish Bose scored for India even as Udanta Singh missed.

For Kuwait, Mohammed Abdullah’s spot-kick, first in the sequence, clattered off the bar, but Fawaz Alotaibi, Ahmad Aldhefeery, Abdulaziz Mahran and Shabaib Alkhaldi stretched it to sudden death.

Once there, Naorem Mahesh slammed his penalty home before Indian goalkeeper Gurpreet Singh Sandhu’s diving save to his left to thwart Kuwait captain Khaled Hajiah gave India its second trophy in under a month.