The Hindu : Sport / Football : Syria beats Bangladesh

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Sunday, Aug 19, 2007
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Syria beats Bangladesh

Vijay Lokapally

NEW DELHI: The intensity was missing but the desire to snatch full points carried Syria past a fighting Bangladesh in the ONGC Nehru Cup football tournament here on Saturday. Syria dominated but scored only twice in the second half.

Quality became a casualty on a day when one team concentrated on defending itself and the other explored all possible avenues to make a mark.

Bangladesh paid the penalty for adopting defensive tactics from the kick off and Syria, a huge disappointment for the sparse crowd, gained essentially from the individual brilliance of Mootassem Alaya.

Coached by former India coach Syed Naeemuddin, the Bangladesh players could produce just one effort worthy of a goal when Mohammad Zahid Hossain sent a curling long ranger that sailed dangerously over the crosspiece. That was the first positive moment of the match but Bangladesh had only flattered to deceive.

Naeemuddin has not had much time to spend with the boys. The training camp was hampered by weather and the lack of preparation was evident in the Bangladesh movements. At one point, Robin was the lone man upfront as the team rallied to keep the margin of defeat in check. Arman Aziz denied Syria space in the midfield with his splendid anticipation. It was a valiant attempt but not enough to put a leash on the opponents in the second half.

The indefatigable Mootassem Alaya was the central figure in Syria’s game plan. His motivation came from Feras Esmaeel, who was unflinching all through. It was well crafted team work that saw Syria through.

Principal characters

Bangladesh looked out of place barring few forays in the first session. Zyad Chaabo and Maheral Sayed were the principal characters upfront for Syria and paid each other compliments in the second half through a vastly improved approach. Chaabo laid the foundation for Sayed to bury the ball into the net with a skilfully directed placement into the far corner from just inside the box. The role was reversed for the second goal when Sayed, the ‘man of the match’, found Chaabo and the latter finished it in style with a deft grounder.

The teams:

Syria: Mowssab Blahowss, Khaled Mannsoor Albama, Zeen Alabeden Al Fandi, Mootassem Alaya (Abrahiem Al Hasan), Wael Ayan, Mahmoud Al Amena (Mohammed Alzeno), Maheral Sayed, Zyad Chaabo and Ali Alrifaai.

Bangladesh: Biplab Bhattacharjee, Kazi Nazural Islam, Ariful Islam, Arman Aziz, Rajani Kanta Barman, Firoj Mahmud Hossain (Zahid Choudury), Abul Hussain (Mehedi Hassan), Waly Faisal, Zahid Hossain, Jahid Hasan Ameli and Mohammed Robin (Alfaz Ahmed).

Referee: Ajjagowder Arjunan.

Sunday’s match: Krygystan v Cambodia (7 p.m.).

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