 "AFC Asian Cup 2023: India must win against Syria to keep alive faint hopes")
Winless, and pointless, after losing two group matches, India need nothing more than a win against a tricky Syria to keep alive their faint hopes of making the knockout stage of AFC Asian Cup football tournament here on Tuesday.
A 0-2 and 0-3 defeat to Australia and Uzbekistan laid bare India's inability to give strong competition to the top teams of the continent but a win against Syria can salvage some pride for the Sunil Chhetri-led side.
Syria are currently ranked at 91st in the FIFA chart, 11 places above India (102nd) but a victory is not impossible for the Igor Stimac-coached side as they had won in the past -- in 2007, 2009 and 2012 Nehru Cup tournaments.
The last time the two sides met, the match ended in a 1-1 draw in the 2019 Intercontinental Cup in Ahmedabad, and Stimac was also in charge of the Indian team then.
India will finish third in Group B if they beat Syria at Al Bayt Stadium but even that will not guarantee them a place in the round of 16.
With a goal difference of minus five -- the deciding factor if teams are tied on points -- after two matches, it may be difficult for India to be one of the four third-placed teams out of six to progress to the knockout stage.
The last group matches will be held on Thursday (Group E and F) and India will have to wait till then to know their fate even if they beat Syria on Tuesday.
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India adopted an ultra defensive approach against the mighty Australians who have been a regular in the FIFA World Cup for some time but they tried to express themselves a bit in the match against Uzbekistan and, coupled with some costly mistakes by defenders, they failed to put up a good fight.
It was not that India did not get any chance against Uzbekistan. They did get at least three, including the one from Rahul KP that hit the crosspiece.
With nothing to lose from the match, Stimac may be tempted to go all out for a win against India but he could be wary of any mistake from his players, like the one committed by Rahul Bheke, which led to Uzbekistan's second goal in the 18th minute.
"At this level, there's never a convenient time to concede goals. If you allow time and space to a side like Uzbekistan, they will kill you," Stimac said.
"We need to work on ourselves, close these gaps in our game, and look forward to winning the crucial matches that lie ahead of us.
"They were far more clinical than us. They didn't give away anything and they took their chances. Whatever problems we had, came from ourselves. We allowed them to take those chances. That's the difference."
Usually highly reliable in front of goal, captain Chhetri has also been not at his best as could be seen once each against Australia and Uzbekistan, though nobody can fault him as he has been the lone ranger most of the time to get goals for India for many years.
Syria, who have one point from two matches, will also be looking for a win as doing so will boost their knockout prospect. So, the West Asian side are expected to come down hard on India, who, however, can exploit the situation to their advantage if they score first.
India would take heart from the fact that Syria are also yet to score in their earlier two matches -- 0-1 with Australia and 0-0 with Uzbekistan.
More importantly, Syria have managed only one shot on target in the tournament, which is fewer than any other team. India have done better at least in that aspect of the game.
The status of Sahal Abdul Samad, who missed the first two matches as he was recovering from an injury, is not yet known though the midfielder himself hinted that he could be available for the Syria match.
"With the help of physios, doctors and coaches, I'm still trying to be back. Hopefully, I might be ready for the next game," Sahal said on Sunday.
"We need to be ourselves, play as a team ... Hopefully, we get the three points and we qualify," he added.
It is also not known if winger Lallianzuala Chhangte will be available for the match against Syria after he missed the Uzbekistan game as he was not 100 per cent fit. Chhangte had featured in the Australia match.