Syria beat India 3-0 to win the Intercontinental Cup in dominant fashion in Hyderabad on Monday evening, as the hosts' miserable 2024 continued.
India are yet to register a win in this calendar year, but they will take some positives from this performance, despite the scoreline. It was a much-improved performance compared to the one against Mauritius, but Syria's quality in the crucial moments made the difference in this game.
India didn't start very well though, and could've been down two goals or three within the opening 15 minutes. Syria took the lead through Mahmoud Alaswad after superb play from Daleho Irandust down the right and some meek Indian defending which let him go through easily.
Gurpreet Singh Sandhu was forced into a save from a close-range shot taken by Noah Shamoun, and then Syria hit the bar as well through Irandust.
"I am angry with the first half, I don't like teams who are scared. We were not brave in the first half," coach Manolo Marquez said after the match.
India grew into the game eventually, and especially in the second half, they managed to create chances and force Syrian goalkeeper Elias Hadaya into a couple of excellent saves - particularly off Edmund Lalrindika and Lallianzuala Chhangte.
India finished the match with 18 shots, four more than Syria and more possession than their opponents as well. Marquez said after the game that he liked how his team played in the second half, which was completely different from the first.
In the second half, Syria scored two goals on the counter-attack, the first of which was definitely avoidable. First, Anwar Ali and Subhasish Bose were caught out of position, and then Anwar was lackadaisical in closing Irandust down, before his shot slipped under Gurpreet's dive. The third goal, scored by Pablo Sabbag, came through a clinical break after India poured men forward in search of that elusive goal.
India's lack of goals remains a problem for the side, but Marquez was pleased to see his side create chances, saying that the 3-0 scoreline wasn't an accurate reflection of the game, and that India deserved at least a goal for their efforts.
For now, India's miserable 2024 has continued, as the team still wait for their first win of the calendar year. The quest continues with matches against Vietnam and Lebanon next month, and judging by the improvements made in this game against Syria, Marquez will no doubt be looking for his side to step their levels up further in those two games.
You can relive the match as it happened, below: