Mohamad Alzino scored the all-important goal to help Syria beat Lebanon 1-0 to enter the final of the Nehru Cup.
Syria continued from where they left against Sri Lanka. Their balanced defending and attacking saw them get past Lebanon 1-0 at Ambedkar Stadium in the Capital on Thursday to book a berth in the Nehru Cup final.
Mohamad Alzino scored the all-important goal for the 2007 edition's runners-up.
The Syrians were facing physically-superior opponents in Lebanon as compared to their previous rivals Sri Lanka, whom they drub 4-0 on Monday. The Lebanese, however, could not match the 95th-ranked Syrians' well-orchestrated game.
After the initial exchange of attacks and counter-attacks, Syria took the matters in their control in the 23rd minute. Abdul Fatah Alaga, who found the net twice for his side against the Lankans, again proved to be pivotal. He did all the spadework for the winning strike. And, Alzino just tapped in Alaga's header to a throw-in to put his side in the driving seat.
The 148th-ranked Lebanon tried their best to get back into the contention, but all their efforts went in vain. Every time they tried to threaten the Syrian area, they either met with a unbreachable defence or an all-alert custodian in Mosab Balhous.
The second part of the encounter turned out to be more eventful. Even though there wasn't any mark added on the board, the fast-cadenced 45 minutes kept the spectators guessing throughout.
With Lebanon desperate to draw parity and Syria continuing to raid the rival area, the referee had a tough time trying to contain the tempers. Lebanon's Akram Moghrabi came agonisingly close to open his side's account in the 57th minute. He paced up the left wing, leaving the Syrian defence trailing behind, and aimed at the post from the left of the 16-yard box. His shot, however, missed the mark by a feet and the Syrian 'keeper Balhous heaved a sigh of relief.
Just five minutes later, Lebanon raised a big hue and cry about a denied spot-kick. Balhous robbed Hassan Matouk off the ball inside the box, the latter tripping down in the process. As the Lebanese players started hovering around the referee for a penalty, the Syrians joined in the chaos for the opposite. That quickly prompted the Syrian coach, Fajer Ebrahim, to rush to the touchline and rebuke his wards for losing their calm.
After that it was the routine hits-and-misses from both the sides. The difference being, while Lebanon lost their sense of target in the desperation, Syrians met with alert resistance from the Lebanese goalkepeer Elias Freije.
With this win over Lebanon, Syria also kept their hold at the top of the points tally with nine points and seven goals from three matches. They will now face defending champions India in an almost inconsequential match on Saturday. Sri Lanka and Kyrgyzstan are taking the field on Friday.
India are virtually assured of a place in a repeat of the 2007 title clash. The Lankans are on three points right now with a goal difference of minus five. India, meanwhile, will head into the Syria match with six points and a plus two goal difference.
No comments:
Post a Comment