India may have found themselves on the wrong side of the result, but they certainly won the hearts of the sizeable number of fans who cheered them vociferously.
Zyad Chaabo underlined his quality with two goals for Syria, while Khaled M Albaba chipped in with one. Sunil Chetri and Ajayan Nair found the net for the home side.
The match was played at a fast pace, with both teams mounting attacks, the large crowd cheering every move. The roar at the strike from Nair would have brought the roof down, had there been one.
Local lad Chetri, out of sorts against Bangladesh in the last match, put the hosts ahead in the 13th minute, much to the delight of the 10,000-strong crowd at the Amedkar stadium.
Skipper Bhaichung Bhutia showed good skill in the opponents’ half before passing to Climax Lawrence. The midfielder found Chetri at the edge of the box, and the JCT forward drove home, the ball rolling over the goalline despite custodian Mowssab Blahowss getting a hand to it.
Crowd support
The goal and the support of a large crowd seemed to work wonders for Bob Houghton’s side as they created some nice moves, but it was not long before the Syrians got into the game.
Syria were especially dangerous with their long aerial passes, while the Indians impressed with their short passing. Syria equalised with Khaled Albaba heading home a corner from captain Maher Al Sayed in the 24th minute.
Syria went into the break on a high when they got the crucial second goal. Al Sayed ran on to a through ball when NS Manju failed to clear, and presented an easy tap-in for Zyad Chaabo just before the breather.
India started the second half briskly, but Chaabo dealt them a big blow when he rifled a scorching shot into the top corner midway through the session. The ball deflected off Gourmangi Singh’s shoulder, giving goalkeeper Subrata Paul no chance and swelling Syria’s lead to 3-1 in the 66th minute.
Substitute Ajayan Nair then revived Indian hopes with what would inarguably be the goal of the tournament so far. He dribbled past three Syrian defenders and unleased a ferocious left-footer which almost burst through the net.
