India's AFC Asian Cup campaign ends with defeat to Syria
Jan 23, 2024
AL Khor [Qatar], January 23 : India's campaign in the ongoing AFC Asian Cup 2023 ended on a bitter note as they ended up losing against Syria on Tuesday with a scoreline of 1-0 in the concluding Group B match at the Al Bayt Stadium.
A spirited Sunil Chhetri-led side held on to their clean sheet until the 76th minute of the game. Super sub, Omar Khrbin found the back of the net to clinch the game for Syria.
India goalkeeper Gurpreet Singh Sandhu looked unbeatable at the goalpost looked like an unbreakable wall, but Khrbin managed to sneak past his effort and clinch the victory for Syria.
Gurpreet neutralized the threat on a number of occasions pulling off some remarkable saves, stretching every muscle in his body.
In the first 20 minutes, he was called into action managing to palm away a Pablo Sabbag's attempt.
The second half was no different to the first, as the Syrians kept on pressing for a goal only to find Gurpreet keeping them away from their desired objective.
In reply to Syria's 20 shots, India managed to fire back eight at them with only one on target. Even though the first half was quite level in terms of play, Syria looked in control with their ability to pierce through India's setup.
In India's previous group losses to Australia (0-2) and Uzbekistan (0-3) they lacked courage and conviction. But in the final game of the group they played with both and with a certain amount of boldness especially in the midfield.
India had their chances but it required a bit more sharpness as well as a bit of magic to change the scoreline.
