King's cup: India pay the penalty in shootout vs Iraq

Chiang Mai (Thailand), Sep 7

A Sunil Chhetri-less India conceded a late goal off a debatable penalty to miss out on their first-ever win over higher-ranked Iraq who won via penalty shootout in the King’s Cup here today.

India will take on Lebanon in the bronze medal playoff on Sunday as Thailand defeated Lebanon 2-1.

India were leading 2-1 till the 79th minute when the referee awarded a soft penalty to Iraq after their striker Aymen Ghadhban was squeezed by two defenders in the box during a tussle to get on to a high cross.

It did not look like a clear-cut penalty but Ghadhban himself stepped up to take the spot-kick and scored to level the match 2-2 and take it to the shootout.

Iraq then won 5-4 in the shootout with Brandon Fernandes failing to score as his kick hit the post and went out.

Under the tournament’s rule, the match will be decided via penalty shootout if the scores are levelled in the regulation time and there will be no extra-time play.

It was a creditable show by the Indian team, which was without their talismanic striker and captain Chhetri, who missed the tournament after becoming a father recently. World No. 99 India played on equal terms against Iraq, ranked 70th in the FIFA rankings, for the most part of their semifinal.

Earlier, Naorem Mahesh Singh had given India the lead in the 16th minute before Karim Ali equalised in the 28th minute, also from a penalty.

India regained the lead in the 51st minute with Iraq captain and goalkeeper Jalal Hasan conceding an own goal with a howler of an effort. Iraq were reduced to 10 men in the stoppage time as Zidane Iqbal was sent off for elbowing Fernandes but India could not capitalise on that as the regulation time ended within a minute and there was no extra time of play.

The loss ended India’s 11-match unbeaten streak this year.