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Kings Cup 2023: Iraq Edge Out India 5-4 on Penalties in Semifinal.
India suffered a close defeat on penalties against Iraq at the 700th Anniversary Stadium in Chiang Mai on Thursday, after the game had ended 2-2 at the end of the regulation 90 minutes.
Team India were handed a harsh exit from the invitational Kings Cup 2023 tournament in Thailand as the Iraq side edged out the Blue Tigers on penalties following a 2-2 draw in the regulation 90 minutes on Thursday.
India began the game on a positive note and went ahead through Mahesh Singh who hit the net with a first-time effort after being played into the danger area by Abdul Sahal Samad, who threaded a brilliant ball in following his cruising run.
But, Sandesh Jhingan conceded the first of two penalties on the night as the referee pointed to the spot after the ball hit the Indian defender’s hands inside the box. Iraq’s Karim Ali made no mistake from the spot as he dispatched an expert penalty to beat Indian custodian Gurpreet Singh, who judged the right way but couldn’t keep the ball out.
The teams headed into the halftime break all tied at 1-goal a piece.
Back from the interval, India once again inched ahead in the game thanks to a blunder of an error by Iraqi goalie Hasan, who tipped the ball into the back of his net following an unconvincing attempt by Akash Mishra.
The Iraqis were relentless in their search for another equaliser and their work paid dividends in the 80th minute of the game as India crumbled under the incessant pressure and conceded yet another penalty through Jhingan.
This time it was Ghadhban who stepped forward and took the penalty, which he sent into the back of the net in a confident fashion to restore parity.
There was one additional twist before the game could head into the penalty tiebreaks as Manchester United product Zidane Iqbal, who represents Iraq, was shown a straight red as the Lions of Mesopotamia were briefly down to ten men before the end of the game.
But, ultimately, Iraq beat India 5-4 on penalties as the Lions of Mesopotamia managed to convert all five of their spot kicks, while India netted four of the five, with the only miss for the men in blue coming from Fernandes.
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