Al-Aswad, Irandust and Sabbag on target as Syria thrash India 3-0 to win Intercontinental Cup

Syria were crowned the Intercontinental Cup 2024 champions after beating India 3-0 at the GMC Balayogi Gachibowli Stadium in Hyderabad on Monday.

The Hon’ble Chief Minister of Telangana, Shri A Revanth Reddy, presented the winners’ trophy to Syria. Syria captain Mahmoud Al-Mawas was named the Syed Abdul Rahim Player of the Tournament.

India spent the entire game on the chase after Mahmoud Al-Aswad scored the opener in the seventh minute. The hosts improved significantly in the second half, but a strong performance from Syrian goalkeeper Elias Hadaya prevented any sort of an Indian comeback. Finally, Daleho Irandust and Pablo Sabbag punished India on the counter and scored two more to seal a solid win for the West Asians.

India head coach Manolo Márquez made seven changes, from the line-up which was held 0-0 by Mauritius. On the other hand, José Lana rotated all 11 players from Syria’s 2-0 victory over Mauritius three days ago.

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Syria were all over India right from the opening whistle as the hosts looked answerless. The visitors took the lead in the seventh minute with their first inroad into the Indian box. Irandust tiptoed his way into the box before feeding Al-Aswad, whose initial shot was blocked by Anwar Ali, but the rebound deflected off Jeakson Singh Thounaojam and fortunately fell for Al-Aswad again. The 20-year-old made no mistake and instinctively punted the ball into the roof of the net.

There would be no respite from the relentless Syrian pressure for India, but they found themselves fortunate to have the deficit at one until half-time. In the 10th minute, Alaa Al-Dali rattled the crossbar from outside the box and two minutes later Gurpreet Singh Sandhu came to India’s rescue, making himself big to deny Mohammed Osman after the midfielder latched onto a loose ball bouncing in the box.

Irandust’s creativity continued to leave the Indian defenders puzzled, and in the 20th minute, he threaded Al-Dali clean through on goal with just Gurpreet to beat, but a poor finish let the striker down as India breathed another sigh of relief.

India finally had their first shot in the 28th minute but it was far from an accurate attempt. Subhasish Bose looped a cross for Lallianzuala Chhangte, who headed it over the bar. But India continued to be a bit disorganised in defence. When Irandust’s 35th-minute corner was not cleared in the six-yard box, a combination of Gurpreet’s glove and Nikhil Poojary’s sweeping clearance bailed India out.

But Márquez’s men showed glimpses of their attacking intent towards the end of the first half, with Sahal Abdul Samad’s powerful left-footed half-volley testing Syria’s debutant goalkeeper Elias Hadaya for the first time in the match. Then Sahal delivered a low cross for Chhangte in the middle, who took a first-time shot but it was bravely blocked by a white shirt.

India’s start to the second half was refreshing. The Blue Tigers looked more confident on the ball and kept more possession in the Syrian half. Half-time substitutes Asish Rai and Apuia were actively involved in attacks.

Ten minutes in, Sahal made a lung-bursting run through the midfield and fed Chhangte, who looked lively after switching to left flank after the break. He cut outside and stung the palm of Hadaya with a strong shot.

At the hour-mark, Sahal was the architect again as he did brilliantly near the by-line to squeeze in a cross, which was punched away by Hadaya at the near post. It fell for Chhangte, whose first touch took him wide before the consequent shot was blocked by Moaiad Al-Khouli.

The introduction of Naorem Mahesh Singh also added another dynamic to India’s attack. In his first involvement, he whipped a great cross from the left aimed for Nandhakumar Sekar. He attempted a first-time shot, which was actually going wide before Chhangte tried to slide towards it at the far post, but couldn’t prevent it from bouncing out of play.

However, just when India seemed to be getting closer to the equaliser, Syria delivered the killer blow in the 76th minute, taking advantage of the hosts’ paucity of men at the back. Irandust played a one-two with Pablo Sabbag and entered the box from the right before getting the better of Anwar and squeezing a low shot through the gloves of Gurpreet.

Syria clinches the Intercontinental Cup title. 🏆#IndianFootball ⚽️ #IntercontinentalCup2024 pic.twitter.com/pLON8ItVKA

— Indian Football Team (@IndianFootball) September 9, 2024

The Indian substitutes kept the fire on in the latter minutes of the game, and were perhaps unlucky not to get a goal back. In the 87th minute, Edmund Lalrindika, had a go from 25 yards, forcing Hadaya to make his toughest save of the night. The Syrian custodian was called into action in the very next minute as he solidly kept out a half-volley from Mahesh.

Then it was the crossbar which denied India any sort of a consolation. First, Chhangte’s instinctive volley landed on top of the crossbar before Liston Colaco’s 35-yard effort slipped through Hadaya’s gloves, bounced on the bar, dropped on the goalline but didn’t go past it.

Syria got their third goal with the last kick of the game via another counter-attack as Mahmoud Al-Mawas squared it for Sabbag, who only had to roll it into the empty net.

After the match, Márquez said, “I am angry with the first half. We were scared and not brave at all. We could’ve avoided the action which caused the first goal. I am satisfied with the second half. The score isn’t a real reflection of the game. We at least deserved to score. The players’ attitude and positioning was better after the break. We were braver and at least created chances. Syria have very good players. They killed us on the counter. They had many chances throughout the game.”

Syria head coach José Lana said, “I am very happy with our performance. I’m delighted with how we did in the tournament with a young squad.”