Pick a side and dive: Gurpreet Singh Sandhu’s secret to shootout success

Bengaluru, July 2

Advertisement

India’s premier goalkeeper Gurpreet Singh Sandhu went for the tried and tested formula of defending penalty kicks — pick a side and dive, leaving the outcome to chance — as his save shaped the home side’s win over Lebanon in the SAFF Championships semifinals here.

As a goalkeeper, all I want to do is make the penalty-taker’s job tough. I try to stay big until the last moment, choose a side and get a hand to the ball. Gurpreet Singh Sandhu, India goalkeeper

India prevailed over Lebanon 4-2 in the penalty shootout after 120 minutes of goalless play on Saturday night to seal the summit clash against Kuwait, to be played on Tuesday.

After captain Sunil Chhetri scored from the spot, Sandhu saved the first kick from Lebabnon as he dived to his left and blocked the low shot from Hassan Maatouk. Anwar Ali, Mahesh Singh and Udanta Singh found the back of the net in the next three shots for India.

“As a goalkeeper, all I want to do is make the penalty-taker’s job tough. I try to stay big until the last moment, choose a side and get a hand to the ball,” Sandhu said.

“You can’t save every penalty. But you try to know what the taker is thinking. Someone will try to trick you, someone will come with a pre-decided shot. The experience and physicality help. If I’m 5’4”, I wouldn’t have saved that penalty, for sure,” he added.

Assistant coach Mahesh Gawli, who manned the India dugout as Igor Stimac is serving a two-match ban, said Sandhu’s save gave confidence to his teammates.

“His save gave a lot of confidence to our players, who came to take the next penalties,” Gawli said. “I’m really proud of the grit, determination and fight the boys have shown. We’re lucky to have such good penalty-takers in our team,” he added.

Lebanon were stronger off the blocks, almost taking India by surprise with their lightning-quick start, but the hosts gradually took control after weathering the initial storm. “We were sloppy in the first 15 minutes, but after that, we dominated the entire match. Our intensity was the same until the 120th minute. We could’ve scored three or four goals with the chances we had,” Gawli said.