India vs Syria, Intercontinental Cup 2024© AIFF
Indian football team’s hopes of winning the Intercontinental Cup title for the third time were dashed as it lost to Syria 0-3 in the last league match of the three-nation tournament here on Monday. Mahmoud Al Aswad and Daleho Mohsen Irandust scored for Syria in the seventh and 77th minutes to break the hearts of the home crowd at the GMC Balayogi Athletics Stadium. While Pablo Sabbag’s strike in the injury time was a mere underlining of Syria’s dominance.
The result meant that Manolo Marquez began his stint as India head coach, after succeeding Igor Stimac, on a disappointing note. He was appointed at the helm of affairs in July. Syria had beaten Mauritius 2-0 in their opening match and they thus ended the round-robin league with six points. India and Mauritius finished the tournament on one point each after playing out a goalless draw on September 3.
The highest-ranked team after the round-robin league wins the tournament and there is no final.
India had won the title in 2018 and 2023, while it was the first trophy for Syria who had finished third in 2019.
In fact, this was the first time Syria won a title on Indian soil. The West Asian country has a long history of playing tournaments in India, but a title has eluded them before Monday.
Syria lost back-to-back Nehru Cup finals to India in 2007 and 2009 before finishing fourth in 2012.
In their last trip to India in the 2019 Intercontinental Cup, Syria ended in third place. In that tournament, the two teams played out a 1-1 draw.
In the last meeting between the two teams, Syria had beaten India 1-0 in the Asian Cup in Qatar in January.
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