A Syrian gets past a Kyrgyzstan player in their Nehru Cup tie in New Delhi on Tuesday. Picture by Prem Singh

New Delhi: On Tuesday, when Syria took on Kyrgyzstan in the crucial ONGC Nehru Cup tie, the entire Indian coaching staff took their seats in the VIP box of the Ambedkar Stadium well before the start.

In the end, when Syria notched up a 4-1 win to take their tally to six points from two matches, Indian national coach Bob Houghton was lost deep in thought.

Houghton didn’t talk about his impression on the match but other members of the staff agreed that Syria could be a tough nut to crack when India take on the West Asian side on Thursday.

“Please don’t mention my name, but even Kyrgyzstan could be tough,” said a team official. “They lost but are slowly opening up.”

The official was not far from the truth. Syria have a kind of compact game that could always trouble the Indians. The tall Kyrgyzstanis packed their defence with seven men after they found the rather unexpected equaliser but the Syrians still managed to draw them out to score three more goals.

Ability to play both long ball and short passes with equal fluency is Syria’s biggest advantage. They have a fine striker in skipper Maher Al Sayed, who put his team in the lead in the seventh minute with a resounding shot from the top of the box.

An own goal by Ali Dyeb helped Kyrgyzstan restore parity. It was, however, no reflection on the trend of the match. The Syrians were a much superior side and again took the lead in the 43rd minute through Zyad Chaabo.

In the second half, the Syrians were all over. While Mohammed Alzeno got the third goal in the 70th minute off a Maher Al Sayed pass, Abrahiem Al Hasan made it 4-1 in the 81st minute.

TEAMS

Syria: Mowsaab Blahowss; Ali Dyeb, Mohammed Alzeno, Maher Al Sayed, Khaled Albaba and Mootassem Alaya; Aatef Jenyat (Ali Alrifaai, 69th), Wael Ayan (Abraheim Al Hasan, 73rd), and Zeen Alabeden Al Fandi; Zyad Chaabo (Mahmoud Al Amena, 83rd) and Feras Esmaeel.

Kyrgyzstan: Kashuba Valeri; Amin Viacheslav (Valiev Timur, 65th), Samasaliev Talant, Kniazev Sergei and Harchenko Vadim; Kornilov Roman, Djamshidov Ruslan, Bokoev Aibek and Askarov Davron (Sidorenko Pavel, 75th), Mamatov Bakytbek and Lut Fullaev (Amirov Ildar, 47th).

Referee: Srinivasan Suresh (India)

Wednesday’s match: Bangladesh vs Cambodia