By IANS
New Delhi : Title favourites Syria stamped their class and thrashed Kyrgyzstan 4-1 in the fifth match of the Nehru Cup international football tournament here Tuesday.
The Syrians toyed with the Kyrgyzstan team and always looked like winners, making it clear that they had come here to lift the cup.
Captain Maher Al Sayed (7th), Zyad Chaabo (44th), Mohammed Alzeno (70th) and Hasan (83rd) scored for the Syrians. Kyrgyzstan were lucky enough to get one – courtesy a self-goal by Syria’s Ali Dyeb in the 13th minute.
In the previous match against Bangladesh, Syria won 2-0 but were not impressive. On Tuesday, they showed their brilliance against Kyrgyzstan, which is the second best team in this five-nation meet.
The Syrians were on attack mode right from the start and a brilliant effort by Al Sayed saw them take the lead as early as in the seventh minute. A faulty clearance by a Kyrgyzstan defender saw Al Sayed unleashing his powerful right footer, which gave no chance to goalie Kashuba Valeri.
After taking the lead, Syrians stepped up the pace of the attack and Al Sayed was instrumental in feeding his forwards with some immaculate passes, which gave some anxious moments to the Kyrgyzstan defenders.
But a disaster was in the waiting for the Syrians as Dyeb in an attempt to clear a lob in the box, miscalculated and saw the ball sailing into his own net. The entire Syrian team was in a state of shock for a moment but then on never looked back and left an impression of supremacy in the match.
Just before going the breather, Syria broke the deadlock after Chaabo head in from a fine chip. Aatef Jenyat gave a through pass to Mohammed Alzeno, who chipped in from the edge of the box and an unmarked Chaabo headed in to make it 2-1.
Chaabo got another clear opportunity to add to his tally in the 61st minute but squandered it. He had only the goalie to beat but unfortunately a valiant effort by Valeri thwarted his effort.
Syria’s Al Sayed turned out to be the playmaker of the day with his intelligent passing and contributed to increase the lead in the 70th minute to make matters worse for Kyrgyzstan. Sayed spotted Alzeno on the right flank and gave him a through pass. Alzeno made a solo run into the Kyrgyzstan box and again chipped it into the net.
Al Sayed was also instrumental in scoring the fourth and the final goal, which sounded the death knell for Kyrgyzstan. Sayed again fed Alzeno with a clinical pass in the box and the latter went ahead with his shot which was palmed away Valeri but an unmarked Hasan sneaked in and headed in off the rebound to seal the fate of the match in Syria’s favour.
Teams:
Syria: Mowsaab Blahowss (goalkeeper), Ali Dyeb, Mohammed Alzeno, Maher Al Sayed, Khaled Albaba, Mootassem Alaya, Aatef Jenyat (Ali Alrifaai, 69th), Wael Ayan (Abraheim Al Hasan, 73rd), Zeen Alabeden Al Fandi, Zyad Chaabo (Mahmoud Al Amena, 83), Feras Esmaeel Kyrgyzstan: Kashuba Valeri, Amin Viacheslav (Valiev Timur, 65th), Samasaliev Talant, Kniazev Sergei, Harchenko Vadim, Kornilov Roman, Djamshidov Ruslan, Bokoev Aibek, Askarov Davron (Sidorenko Pavel, 75th), Mamatov Bakytbek, Lut Fullaev (Amirov Ildar, 47th)
Referee: Srinivasan Suresh (India)