Captain Gurpreet’s heroics in shootout give India bronze medal in CAFA Nations Cup

Khalid Jamil guided India to third place in the CAFA Nations Cup in Tajikistan after a penalty shootout win over Oman, inspired by captain Gurpreet Singh Sandhu, on Monday.

Goalkeeper Gurpreet saved two shots as India won 3-2 in penalties after the match ended 1-1 at the end of 120 minutes at Hisor.

In the shootout, India took a 2-0 lead after Lallianzuala Chhangte and Rahul Bheke scored, while Gurpreet denied Omani skipper Harib Al Saadi, and Ahmed Al Kaabi fired over.

Oman got a lifeline after Anwar Ali's penalty was saved, and Thani Al Rushaidi and Muhsen Al Ghassani scored to make it 2-2. Before Udanta missed India's final kick, Malayali winger Jithin M S calmly placed his penalty to put India 3-2. Gurpreet ensured victory by saving Oman's fifth penalty.

Earlier, Oman took the lead with Jameel Al Yahmadi scoring in the 55th minute. India found the equaliser through Udanta Singh, who netted within two minutes of coming off the bench. A long throw from Rahul Bheke was flicked on to the path of Udanta, who scored in the 80th minute.

India tried to find a goal in the first half of extra time when Anwar Ali took a shot from range, forcing a save from Al Mukhaini.

Jamil took over from Manolo Marquez before the eight-nation event jointly hosted by Tajikistan and Uzbekistan. India lost just once (0-3 to Iran) and posted a win (2-1 vs Tajikistan) and drew against Afghanistan (0-0) before reaching the third-place playoffs.