The South Asian Football Federation Championship, sometimes known as the SAFF Football Championship, is a biannual international football tournament in which the national teams of South Asian countries participate. Through the competition, regional football will be promoted and developed.
How many countries are SAFF members?
Currently, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Lebanon, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan, & Sri Lanka are the eight nations that take part in the SAFF Championship.
Before joining the Central Asian Football Association (CAFA) as a founding member in 2015, Afghanistan initially joined the South Asian Football Federation in 2005.
What are SAFF games’ official rules?
A multi-sport competition conducted every four years for athletes from South Asia is called the South Asian Games (SAG or SA Games), previously referred to as the South Asian Federation Games (SAFG or SAF Games).
Which nation held SAFF 2023?
From June 21 to July 4, 2023, the event took place at the Sree Kanteerava Stadium in Bangalore, India. India, the defending champions, defeated Kuwait in the final match to claim their ninth title.
Who won the Saff in 2023?
India won the SAFF Championship 2023 championship game, defeating Kuwait 5-4 on penalties, and took home the prized trophy.
Also, Read Fascinating Facts About FIFA World Cup
SAFF Championship Final between India and Kuwait
After both teams’ 120-minute summit encounter finished in a 1-1 tie, India defeated Kuwait 5-4 in a thrilling penalty shootout to win the SAFF Championships for the seventh time.
After a total of five rounds of penalty kicks, the score remained 4-4, and a sudden-death rule was applied. Gurpreet Singh Sandhu of India made a diving save on Khaled Hajiah’s attempt after Mahesh Naorem had scored, giving the victory to the home team.
Shabaib Al Khaldi gave Kuwait the lead in the 14th minute before Lallianzuala Chhangte leveled up the score in the 39th minute of standard time. India, the defending champion, and Kuwait also drew 1-1 in their final group game.
Sunil Chhetri rarely failed to score, therefore India also came up empty-handed. When India plays Kuwait in the South Asian Championship final on Tuesday in Bengaluru, the hosts will be hoping that other attackers will rise to the occasion because the national team continues to rely on solid defensive performances.
Even at the age of 38, Chhetri leads India from the front. Five of India’s seven goals in the competition have been scored by the captain, including the opening goal against Kuwait in the group stage.
The other two scorers are Udanta Singh and Naorem Mahesh, but India is aware that they will need additional scoring options if they hope to prolong their home winning streak and win the regional championship for the ninth time.
Sandesh Jhingan’s return from his suspension for Saturday’s semifinal match against Kuwait will help India’s defense, which has been stingy throughout the tournament, allowing only one goal in four games.
Although the back line will face one of its toughest tests to date, India’s defense did not miss him much. Instead, attention will be on the strikers, who lacked precision in the few chances they produced against Lebanon in the semifinals.
