"We wanted to do it for the coach," Indian assistant coach Mahesh Gawli at the press conference | India vs Lebanon

India defeated Lebanon on penalties in the second semi-final of the SAFF Championship 2023. The match ended 0-0 in regulation time but Gurpreet saved two penalties in the penalty shootout to clinch the victory for India. The Blue Tigers defeated Lebanon 4-2 on penalties and makes their way into consecutive SAFF Championship finals. They will now face Kuwait in the Final on Tuesday 4th July but before that, we'll give our attention to the post-match press conference of Indian assistant coach, Mahesh Gawli.

Read Also: SAFF Championship: India through to the Final after defeating Lebanon on penalties

"I think after the 1st 15 minutes, we dominated the game and you see the intensity in our boys. They played very well and we dominated them," Mahesh Gawli said in the press conference.

He also was impressed by Gurpreet's saves in the match. So, when he got asked about how good was Gurpreet's saves and how will you rate Udanata, he replied, "Not only Udanta but everyone played brilliantly. And Gurpreet, he was exceptional on the field, and penalty saves were very nice and I think, it gave the players the required confidence in a big stage like this."

Mahesh Gawli shared his thoughts about India's performance against Lebanon

He also expressed his thoughts about Jeakson. As I said, everyone played their best game and Jeakson was excellent today. When he got asked about how will he rate Anwar Ali, he said, "My answer would be the same. Everyone played their part and Anwar is an amazing talent for our country. He is a future superstar. Anwar is very talented, very intelligent, he is a very sensible footballer. His confidence level is very high and I think he will be a top-class defender in the future."

Mahesh Gawli also said, "If we have taken our chances, it would have been so easy. We could easily score at least three goals before halftime. Jeakson missed an open chance, and so was Sunil." "Having a psychologist in the team is really helping the team to handle the pressure situations but not only them but the coaches also deserve some credit," he answered on asking how the psychologist is helping the team.

India will be looking for their 9th SAFF Championship title on Tuesday against Kuwait in the final.