India's Sunil Chhetri becomes the all-time top goalscorer in SAFF Championship with his side volley vs Kuwait

Indian men's national team captain Sunil Chhetri had another record-breaking night during their final group match of SAFF Championship 2023 against Kuwait at the Sree Kanteerava Stadium on Tuesday.

With the scores still level just before the half-time whistle, the veteran forward eyed a deep delivery from Anirudh Thapa in a corner situation. While the Kuwaiti defenders were too leisurely to react to the lobbed ball, Chhetri adjusted his body shape and thumped home a side volley past the helpless opposition keeper.

The strike not only gave India the lead against a resolute Kuwait side but also etched Sunil Chhetri's name in the history books. His 92nd international goal made him the all-time top goalscorer in the SAFF Championship, with 24 strikes. This is the 38-year-old's fifth goal in this edition from just three matches.

In the previous encounter against Nepal, the Bengaluru FC talisman leveled Ali Ashfaq of Maldives as the joint top-scorer in the competition with 23 goals.

Meanwhile, the Indian skipper is also rapidly closing in on Lionel Messi (103) and Cristiano Ronaldo (123) on the list of all-time international goal scorers in men's football.

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Sunil Chhetri and Co's resilient effort against Kuwait undone by the chaos

Even before the kick-off, many predicted Kuwait to be India's toughest challenge in recent times. Not long ago, the Blue Wave held Bahrain to a draw and defeated United Arab Emirates in the Arabian Gulf Cup.

Yet, after calming their erratic nerves from the initial phase of the match, Igor Stimac's men managed to come away with a lead in the first half. Throughout the second half, they negated most of the threats that Kuwait lined up for the hosts. However, Stimac's composure gave way with the tempers rising on the pitch and the Croatian received his second consecutive red card in the 81st minute.

Chaos descended into the Kanteerava and more bookings followed with Rahim Ali and Al Qallaf being given the marching orders. Both teams were down to 10 men heading into injury time. All of India's focus was redirected into the scuffle in the middle and Kuwait utilized the opportunity to find the equalizer. A dangerous cross from Abdullah Albloushi was steered into his own net by Anwar Ali as the Kuwait bench celebrated in unison.

All the resilience showed by the Blue Tigers during the 90 minutes went into vain as India had to settle for the second spot in Group A.