Credit: Twitter
The Indian men's football team crashed out of the Asian Games 2023 with a 2-0 loss against Saudi Arabia in the Round of 16. The Blue Tigers were under the pump from the opening whistle but managed to evade the constant Saudi attacking threats.
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After an early KSA shot, the Indian team managed to hit the target courtesy of Sunil Chhetri, who took a right-footed shot from outside the box. But throughout the first half, the Blue Tigers stuck to a hard-nosed defensive brand of football and put in countless tackles to keep a superior Saudi Arabian team quiet.
But the second half wasn't a similar story as Saudi Arabia took a 1-0 lead in the 51st minute as Mohammed Abu Al Shamat whipped in the cross and Khalil Marran made no mistake to head the ball into the net. Marran, minutes later, doubled his and the team's tally after beating the Indian keeper Dheeraj in a one-on-one. After going 0-2 down, the match was all but sealed for the Blue Tigers as they failed to break through the Saudi defence and ended a decent run in the Asiad.
