India marked their debut appearance in the Cafa Nations Cup with a third-place finish, defeating higher-ranked Oman 3-2 on penalties after the proceedings ended 1-1 post extra time, at the Hisor Central Stadium in Hisor, Tajikistan, on Monday.

After Udanta Singh’s goal in the 80th minute cancelled out Jameel Al Yahmadi’s 55th-minute opener, it was all down to the dreaded penalty shootout, as the 30 minutes of extra time did not yield any result.

Omani defender Ali Al Busaidi was sent off in the 96th minute.

Lallianzuala Chhangte, Rahul Bheke, and Jithin MS scored for India, 133rd in the Fifa rankings, in the penalties. Anwar Ali’s spot-kick was saved, and Udanta missed.

Thani Al Rushaidi, Muhsen Al Ghassani were the only two players to score their spot kicks for Oman. Harib Al Saadi and Ahmed Al Kaabi missed theirs, and Gurpreet Singh Sandhu, in dramatic fashion, produced a save off the last kick from Jameel Al Yahmadi.

India goalkeeper Gurpreet Singh Sandhu. X

This was India's first-ever victory against the West Asian side

It was one of those matches where pure statistics would not be able to paint the entire picture. While Oman, ranked 79th, enjoyed the majority of possession, both sides shared nearly an equal number of chances.

India, coached by Khalid Jamil, began on the front foot, launching counter-attacks through Vikram Partap Singh and Chhangte on the wings.

The Blue Tigers’ real chance came in the 16th minute, when a Muhammed Uvais long throw was headed on towards Anwar by Nikhil Prabhu. The defender’s powerful header was saved by Oman goalkeeper Ibrahim Al Mukhaini.

Oman, however, began to grow into the game, and Gurpreet was soon called into the action in the 25th minute, when India’s skipper palmed away Issam Al Sabhi’s shot from outside the box.

Minutes later, Nasser Al Rawahi was slipped through between the Indian defensive lines, and only had Sandhu to beat. However, his angular shot rolled wide of the goal.

India had a good chance to take the lead just before half-time, when Chhangte found Irfan Yadwad with a low cut-back, but the latter's attempt went wide.

Oman got the lead in the 55th minute through Al Yahmadi. The equaliser came in the 80th minute. Rahul Bheke’s long throw-in was flicked on towards the far post by Danish Farooq and Udanta headed it in.

Later on Monday, Uzbekistan defeated Iran 1-0 in the final.