India (3) 1 - 1 (2) Oman
Jameel Al Yahmadi 56'
Udanta Singh 80'
Khalid Jamil ended his first campaign as India manager leading the nation to a third placed finish in the CAFA Nations Cup. In their debut appearance at the central Asian tournament, India (the second-lowest ranked team there) won third place with a penalty shootout win over Carlos Quieroz's Oman.This is the first time, ever, that India have beaten Oman in 11 meetings.
Lallianzuala Chhangte, Jithin MS, and Rahul Bheke scored for India, while Anwar Ali had his pen saved, and Udanta Singh skied his. For Oman, Al Rushaidi and Al Ghussaini scored, while Al Saadi, Al Kaabi missed the target, and Al Yahmadi saw his pen saved by Gurpreet Singh Sandhu.
The match itself was a strange one. Oman dominated for almost all of the first ninety minutes, but without much to show for it. In the first half, especially, Gurpreet had as little to do as Al Mukhaini in the Oman goal.
Queiroz came out all guns blazing at half time, making four changes, and that immediately tilted the match in Oman's favour. Their passing speeded up, and India's well organised defence started getting pulled asunder. A superb Oman move in the 56th minute saw two subs combine to give Oman the lead, Al Ghussaini zipping down the left and teeing up Al Yahmadi at the edge of the box, and he finished superbly with a well-placed hit to the far corner.
That seemed to be it for India, as their attacking moves floundered early, but a sub of their own made all the difference in the 80th minute. A long throw from Rahul Bheke -- long throws quickly becoming a potent source of goals for the Jamil regime -- was flicked on by Anwar and headed brilliantly by a diving Udanta at the far post.
In Extra Time, Oman were reduced to ten men after captain Al Busaidi was sent off. India pegged Oman back for the first half of ET, but couldn't trouble the keeper. In the second half, they seemed resigned to take it to pens, and that's how it eventually panned out. The nature of penalty shootouts was then highlighted starkly as the scorers of the goals that took us to the shootout missed their chances from the spot.
You can relive the match in our live blog below: