Kings Cup 2023: Indian football team lost winning against Iraq, dream of reaching King's Cup final broken
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Team India was going to cause an upset in this match, but due to the mistakes made in the last moments, its dream of reaching the final was shattered.
The Indian football team lost in the semi-finals of the King's Cup on Thursday (September 7). It had to face defeat against Iraq in the semi-finals of the 49th King's Cup being played in Thailand. Iraq is ranked 70th and India 99th in the FIFA rankings. Team India was going to cause an upset in this match, but due to the mistakes made in the last moments, its dream of reaching the final was shattered. After the match remained tied 2-2 for the stipulated 90 minutes, the match was decided in a penalty shootout. There the Indian team lost 4-5.
Naorem Mahesh Singh scored the first goal for India in the 16th minute of the match. Thanks to this goal, India took a 1-0 lead. Iraq got a penalty in the 28th minute. He took advantage of this. Al Hamdi equalized for Iraq with a goal. The score remained tied at 1-1 at halftime. After this, the Indian team again took the lead in the 51st minute. Manveer scored the second goal for the team. The Indian team once again took the lead in the match.
Team India did not win after taking lead twice
When Team India got the lead for the second time, it seemed that it would win the match, but Iraq's players took full advantage of the experience. In the 79th minute, Iraqi player Aymen somehow won a penalty in favor of the team. They got the benefit of the Indian defender's mistake. Iraq leveled the match in the 80th minute. Aymen scored a brilliant goal for him. After taking the lead twice in the match, the team could not win within the stipulated time.
India's Brandon Fernandes missed the penalty shootout
The match remained tied at 2-2 for the scheduled 90 minutes. From here the match was decided in the penalty shootout. Five players each from India and Iraq took shots. Only one player out of 10 could not put the ball in the goal post and that was India's Brandon Fernandes. His shot came back after hitting the post. Iraq won the match 5–4 on penalties.
