Defending champion India retained ONGC Nehru football Cup beating Syria by 5-4 in a penalty shoot out at a jam-packed Ambedkar stadium here on Monday after both the teams scored 1-1.
The two sides were deadlocked 0-0 in the regulation time and equaled in the extra time.
India’s goalkeeper Subrata Paul eventually win the title for India making three saves in the shootout, including the decisive shot from Hamzeh Al Aitoni triggering celebrations among the crowd.
After the score went goalless in the regulation time, Renedy Singh scored through a free kick in the 24th minute of extra time. The title was in India’s kitty; however, India could not retain the upper hand as Syria’s Dyab equalized the score in the last minute of the match taking the game to a tie-breaker.
The highly tensed hyper-extended shootout eventually resulted in India’s favour after the 22-year-old goalkeeper Paul produced a heroic performance saving as many as three penalty shots to script the win.
For Indian side, Climax Lawrence, Sunil Chhetri, Steven Dias, Anwar Ali and Surkumar Singh scored in the shootout while Renedy Singh and Meharajuddin Wadoo missed the target.
Along with the Nehru cup title India earned USD 40,000, while Syria pocketed USD 20,000.
Nehru cup 2009 was almost a repeat of the 2007 edition of the tournament when India had lost to Syria in the league match but won the final 1-0.
Bollywood star Salman Khan and AIFF acting president and Civil Aviation Minister Praful Patel and Union Minister of Youth Affairs & Sports M S Gill, watched the Nehru Cup final at the Ambedkar Stadium. Salman Khan was appointed as the Brand Ambassador of the All India Football Federation (AIFF).
Climax of shootout
India 1-0 Syria, Climax Lawrence sent the keeper the wrong way
India 1-1 Syria, Raja Rafe straight into the top corner
India 1-1 Syria, Renedy Singh went from hero to zero, striking the post with his penalty
India 1-1 Syria, Wael Ayan hammered it to the keeper's left, brilliant save by Subrata Pal
India 2-1 Syria, Sunil Chetri stroked the ball calmy past Balhous
India 2-1 Syria, Ahmad Haj Mohamad underhit his shot, Subrata's left hand pushing the ball onto the crossbar, another save!
India 3-1 Syria, Steven Dias gave India a cushion
India 3-2 Syria, Balhous - the Syrian keeper - beats his opposite number to keep his team alive in the contest
India 3-2 Syria, Mehrajuddin Wadoo with the chance to win it, but he hits it straight to the keeper
India 3-3 Syria, Abdul Fattah beats Pal who comes racing off his line and gets a warning from the ref
India 4-3 Syria, Central defender Anwar sends Balhous the wrong way to give India the lead again
India 4-4 Syria, Abdelrazaq puts it in the corner past the outstretched hand of Pal
India 5-4 Syria, Sukumar Singh with an excellent shot to keep India ahead
India 5-4 Syria, Excellent save from Subrata Pal from Hamzeh Al Aitounim penatly to win the Nehru Cup!
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