Mahmoud Alaswad’s poacher’s strike, Daleho Irandust’s mistimed shot and a late attempt by Pablo Sabbag were enough to push Syria to victory against India 3-0 at the Maidaan in Gachibowli on Monday, September 9 and take home the 2024 Intercontinental Cup.
India appeared a distant second best in the first half although some changes from head coach Manolo Marquez in the second changed the tempo of the game more in their favor.
The Indian attackers seemed to be manhandled badly by the Syrian defenders, who were marshaled by their skipper Thaer Krouma playing as a pivot in the central defensive midfielder’s position.
The first goal came a bit too soon for the Indian defensive unit, recovering as they were from a drab goalless encounter against Mauritius in the first game of this tri-nation tournament.
All four of India’s defenders failed to control a loose ball inside the penalty box and allowed Alaswad to take a shot which returned to the latter. A lapse of concentration allowed Alaswad to poke the ball towards the goal, only to find a gap in the Blue Tigers’ line and see it land eventually at the back of the net.
Irandust built on the persistence that the Syrians had shown all game to bypass left-back Subhashish Bose and hit a rather feeble shot that goalkeeper Gurpreet Singh Sandhu – returning for this game – let slip.
When the third goal came in extra time of the second half, all of India – and the crowd inside the Maidaan – had given up hope and seemed resigned to their fate.
Winger Lallianzualla Chhangte, perhaps the best Indian attacker in domestic football over the last couple of seasons, struggled to get his feet right on more than one occasion and looked uncomfortable while passing the ball.
A lot of his fellow attackers were shepherded into anonymity by the Syrian defenders, with Emiliano Amor and Khaled Kourdoghli leading the ranks with distinction and barely letting an Indian ball bypass their formation.
India lost their shape far too often in both halves of the game
For all the struggles that India went through in the first half, they peaked towards the end of it, and many in the near sell-out stadium in the City of Pearls felt that the half came a tad too soon for them.
Marquez brought on Asish Rai for right-back Nikhil Poojary – a controversial decision given that the latter was the only Indian player who created attacking chances in the first half – as well as Apuia for Suresh Singh Wangjam.
Sahal Abdul Samad, playing as the central attacking midfielder until the 64th minute, created perhaps the Blue Tigers’ best chance in the 55th, only for the reluctant Chhangte to merely test the goalkeeper’s positioning.
India lost their shape quite often, but the positioning of centre-half Anwar Ali as the central defensive midfielder in the second half on the odd occasion provided the hosts with an impetus barely seen in the first.
Even Chhangte, who was marked tightly all night and seemed to suffer in silent pain, found his feet and almost got on the scoresheet in the 60th minute in front of an empty goal, missing only to connect on the first attempt.
India’s lack of solidarity in defence saw them lose their positioning off the ball all too often, with the experienced Sandhu expected to contribute a tad more than he did when put under immense duress by the Syrians.
Head coach Marquez will be distressed by this result given that the Blue Tigers have now relinquished the Intercontinental Cup crown they had won last year in Bhubaneswar. Under his watch, the Blue Tigers have drawn one and lost one game already. The embarrassed hosts also ended a lowly third in this tournament, after winners Syria and second-placed Mauritius.
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