New Delhi: Syria notched up their biggest margin of victory over India to win the Intercontinental Cup in Hyderabad on Monday, winning 3-0 to consign the home team to be third among three teams in Manolo Marquez’s debut as national coach.
Having drawn goalless against Mauritius in their first game of the tournament and Syria winning 2-0 against them, India needed a win to claim the trophy they had lifted twice before.
But their plans went haywire after conceding in the seventh minute when Mahmoud Al Aswad poked in from clode range capitalising on Indian defence’s inability to deal with an attack from the right flank.
Marquez’s boys struggled in the early phase and could have very easily gone three or four goals down but somehow survived the first half without conceding any more.
In the second half they showed promise going forward and forced goalkeeper Elias Hadaya into several saves but always looked vulnerable at at the back when Syria launched swift counter attacks through their nippy forwards.
Tough end for India in the #Intercontinentalcup as they fall to Syria and wrap up the campaign! 💔#INDSYR #IndianFootball ⚽️ pic.twitter.com/3qqAjZDl0N
— Indian Football Team (@IndianFootball) September 9, 2024
India grew confident With each attempt at the Syrian goal and committed men forward to leave huge spaces unmanned behind and it seemd just a matter of time before Syria could produce a a string of passes to score.
Daleho Irandust did exactly that in the 76th minute when he cut inside to send the ball under Gurpreet Singh Sandhu to snuff out India’s energy.
Another penetrative combination play in th sixth minute of added time exposed the Indian backline as Pablo Sabbag tapped in from six yards to ensure that India’s slip further down the rankings from the 124th spot when FIFA publishes the list after the end of the September international window.
The 93-ranked Syrians had beaten India 1-0 in the AFC Asian Cup in January in Qatar and eight minths down the line and scored thrice, shignifying a lot of work on the hands of Marquez when he reconvenes for the national set up in October.
Syria beat India 3-0 to win the Intercontinental Cup in Hyderabad on Monday. Football Sports News: Latest Cricket News, Cricket Live Score, Sports Breaking News from Sports Today
