India hold Syria 1-1, Tajikistan to face North Korea in final

Ahmedabad, July 16 

Already out of reckoning for a berth in the final, India produced their best performance of the tournament to play out a 1-1 draw against Syria in the final league match of the Intercontinental Cup here today.

The 18-year-old central defender Narender Gahlot gave India the lead in the 52nd minute but Syria restored parity in the 78th minute after Firas Al Khatib had converted a spot-kick at the EKA Stadium here.

Defending champions India, who had lost 4-2 against Tajikistan and 5-2 against North Korea, collected only one point in the tournament and ended at the bottom of the table. More importantly, India spoilt Syria's hopes of making it to the finals as they needed a win to qualify for the final but ended at third with four points from three matches.

Tajikistan and North Korea, who got six points each from three matches, will play in the summit clash on Saturday.  

India, who had conceded nine goals in their previous two matches, were solid at the back against Syria with the back-four of Gahlot, Rahul Bheke, Pritam Kotal and Mandar Rao Desai producing a much improved performance. Amarjit Singh and Sahal Samad were impressive in the middle of the park, just like in the earlier two matches. Captain Sunil Chhetri  led the charge for the Indian attack though he did not score for the first time in this tournament.

India could have won in front of a sizeable crowd had not Jerry Lalrinzuala made a clumsy challenge to an opponent three minutes after coming onto the field by replacing Mandar Rao Desai. Syria scored from the penalty to equalise.

After experimenting for two matches, India head coach Igor Stimac seemed to have picked the best eleven in his starting line-up after making eight changes from the match against North Korea. This was India's fifth match under Stimac's charge. India won just one (against Thailand in the King's Cup last month), drawn one and lost three. — PTI