Al Yahmadi steps up to take the decisive kick, AND HE HITS IT STRAIGHT AT SANDHU! INDIA HAVE TAKEN THE PENALTY SHOOTOUT 3-2, THEY HAVE TAKEN THIRD PLACE!
Journalism of Courage
India vs Oman, CAFA Nations Cup 2025 third-place playoff highlights: Udanta Singh scored the equaliser for India almost immediately after being substituted in, with the goal coming in the 81st minute. That helped India force the match into extra time. Oman got a red card in the first half of the period and this resulted in India suddenly hogging possession and looking to score. Oman held on though and were much more attacking in the second half. Finally, it ended in a stalemate and incredibly, India were the ones who kept their calm in the penalty shootout and took it 3-2.
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India went into half-time leading 1-0 had Irfan Yadwad not made a blooper of a miss in its dying minutes. There was no pressure from any of the Omani defenders on him and the ball had come kindly to his feet but Yadwad ended up fluffing his tap-in. That miss turned out to be even more expensive as Oman came out all guns blazing in the early minutes of the second half and took the lead.
Al Yahmadi steps up to take the decisive kick, AND HE HITS IT STRAIGHT AT SANDHU! INDIA HAVE TAKEN THE PENALTY SHOOTOUT 3-2, THEY HAVE TAKEN THIRD PLACE!
Udanta had scored that equaliser that has pushed the match to this point. He smashes it over the bar.
Al Ghussaini steps up, smashes it to the side netting. Unsavable.
Jithin goes the Neymar way, stutters, sees the keeper going one way and goes the other.
India 3-1 Oman in the shootout
Al Rushaidi is next for Oman. He smashes it to Gurpreet's right and Oman get one on the board at last.
Anwar Ali is the third kicktaker for India and he hits it straight at Al Mukhaini. An Indian misses this time.
India 2-0 Oman in the shootout
How about it! Sandhu roars, the ball goes about 20 feet over the bar. India are on the brink here!
India 2-0 Oman in the shootout
As calm as they come. Bheke roles it into the right hand bottom.
India 2-0 Oman in the shootout
It is captain Al Saadi who steps up first for Oman! He goes to Sandhu's rigth AND THE INDIAN CAPTAIN SAVES!
India 1-0 Oman in the shootout
And Lallianzuala Chhangte to go first for India. He steps up... TOP RIGHT CORNER NO PROBLEMS
India 1-0 Oman in the shootout
India kept possession for much of the dying minutes of extra time but they could hardly make a clear cut goalscoring chance. There was seemingly one, though. Manvir was played clear as day on goal with just the goalkeeper to beat. He ends up smashing straight into the Oman custodian and the ball goes out. Manvir looks to the linesman who raises the flag to say he was offside, thus saving him from embarassment.
116th min: And it is only to make sure India have a tall body inside the box that can head the ball in from crosses. Jeakson Singh comes on for Danish Farooq.
113th min: "KEEP THE BALL! KEEP THE BALL!" shouts Gurpreet once India win possession in midfield and that is what they do instead of blindly charging forward. Unlike what was the case in the first half of extra time, it has been much more even this time around with Oman managing to stay in the Indian final third for longer periods.
109th min: Or at least that has been the case early on. India need to find a way to score. Chhangte charges forward on the right hand flank looking to force exactly that, his cross, though, is straight into the hands of the goalkeeper.
The half ends with Bheke's long throw in being headed out. Jithin seems to have grabbed the ball back in the final third but the referee says that he committed a foul there. That is the end of that half, Queiroz is quite animated at the touchline at the moment.
100th min: All right, the stream is back on and what we are seeing is something no Indian fan would've ever imagined before the game today. Oman are sat tightly inside their own third, India stroking the ball around in front of them, trying to find a way through.
Well due to the broadcast blackout we have no idea for now just how it is that this has happened and who has been shown the dreaded card. But the bottom line is, Oman are down to 10 men! This is dream territory for India!
Well, the stream has completely blacked out now. Pretty much every way of watching this game is gone for now but we will keep bringing you the action as much as possible.
Al Aghbari's cross is cleared by Anwar, Oman still keep the ball, Al Kaabi puts in another cross from the right straight into Sandhu's hands.
And that is the last act of regular time. We will have extra time, although any FIFA points from this game will be for a draw.
90th min: Oman showing some urgency in attack, Al Aghbari's cross from the right is punched away by Sandhu. It comes back though and Sandhu sees the ball floating harmlessly over the bar. Meanwhile, it looks like there have been a few words exchanged on the touchline between Jamil and Queiroz!
88th min: Oman look a little shell-shocked here. Remember, if this match ends level, we go into extra-time and then penalties. Long throw in, Oman just can't deal with it but they clear it somehow. Jithin collects the ball and puts in a cross which is hopelessly heavy.
81 mins: Udanta Singh brought on just a minute ago and he makes the difference! Long throw in from the right, Bheke takes it with Uvais off the field. The ball is flicked back inside the box, Udanta heads it in. Unbelievable stuff here. Gremlins have taken over the FanCode stream and Udanta had been brought on about a minute back when the stream had given up entirely.
71st min: Manvir passes the ball to Irfan and then charges forward, expecting the latter to give it back to him. But Irfan just stands there and is dispossessed. He hunts the ball back though, and India keep the ball in Oman's half, it ends with Chhangte's cross being cleared off by Al Rushaidi.
68th min: Well India completely in the backfoot. Al Ghassani charges down the left, Hmingthanmawia slides in to stop him. Al Ghassani stays down and the referee finally calls for a break in play half a minute later for him to get some attention.
63rd min: Khalid Jamil has now switched to a 4-4-2. Roshan Singh replaces Mohammed Uvais, and Manvir Singh is on for Mahesh Singh.
56th min: Well Queiroz's substitutions have shredded India to pieces here. India had a couple of chances to clear the ball, they didn't take it and Al Kaabi runs in behind the Indian defence on the left, cuts back to Al Yahmadi at the edge of the box. He runs into that pocket of open space and smashes it in first time.
53rd min: An Uvais long throw in causes mayhem in the Oman box once again, Anwar heads it towards goal but this time there is no power. A min later, Al Kaabi puts in a dangerous cross from the left towards Al Ghassani at the near post. His jump was timed perfectly, Sandhu is beaten and the ball goes just wide of the target.
47th min: India manage to pin Oman inside their box, it finally pops out and Farooq finally ends all that pressure by booting the ball upfield aimlessly into the box. Whether he was actually going for goal from midfield or if he was trying ton find someone inside the empty box, no one will ever know.
Not something you see everyday in football. Queiroz has lined up an army of changes before the start of the second half. Khalid Jamil has also made a change, Jithin brought in for Vikram! Surprises from both sides then.
Here are the Omani subs: Al Rawahi replaced by Al Yahmadi, Al Saadi on for Al Habshi, Al Ghassani on for Al Sabhi and Al Mushaifri, who was brilliant in the first half, comes off for Al Yahyaei.
Well, Oman are placed 54 places above India on the FIFA rankings and so it is a compliment to the latter that the score is 0-0 at half-time. Moreover, India have looked quite dangerous as well. But well, that miss from Yadvad pretty much sums up the one gaping flaw in Indian football that can at times undo every other good thing that a side does on a day. An unbelievable miss, for any professional football player at any level.
It remains to be seen if India can keep up these levels in the second half. Oman have threatened quite a lot. The fact that Sandhu, Anwar and Bheke have had their lapses in communication would be something that India would want to be wary of as the game goes on and their feet start getting heavier.
India centre-back Sandesh Jhingan has suffered a cheekbone fracture during the CAFA Nations Cup 2025 match between India and Iran at the Hisor Central Stadium in Tajikistan, the All India Football Federation (AIFF) and FC Goa said in a joint statement on Friday. Jhingan was ruled out of the remainder of the tournament on Wednesday after the setback.
The 32-year-old is currently under “expert medical care” in Goa, as per the statement.
“The All India Football Federation (AIFF) and FC Goa express their full support for Sandesh Jhingan, who sustained a cheekbone fracture while on national duty with the Senior Indian Men’s National Team. Sandesh is under expert medical care in Goa, and his recovery and rehabilitation are being closely monitored,” the statement read.
