The dream of an Indian football team to capture the Intercontinental Cup title for the third time was shattered when it lost to Syria 0-3 in the last league match of the three-nation tournament here on Monday.
Strikes from Mahmoud Al Aswad in the seventh minute and Daleho Mohsen Irandust in the 77th ensured the hearts of the home crowd at the GMC Balayogi Athletics Stadium, with Pablo Sabbag's strike in injury time merely being an underlining of Syria's dominance.
It meant Manolo Marquez began his stint as India head coach, after succeeding Igor Stimac, on a disappointing note. He was at the helm of affairs in July. Syria had beaten Mauritius 2-0 in their opening match and they thus ended the round-robin league with six points. India and Mauritius finished the tournament on one point each after playing out a goalless draw on September 3.
That makes the highest-ranked team after the round-robin league a winner of the tournament, with no final.
India won the title in 2018 and 2023, but it was the first-ever trophy for Syria who finished third in 2019.
As a matter of fact, this was for the first time Syria won a title in the Indian soil, though the West Asian country has been playing tournaments in India for quite some time, but a title has eluded them before Monday.
Syria lost successive Nehru Cup finals to India in 2007 and 2009 before finishing fourth in 2012.
While touring India in the Intercontinental Cup in 2019, Syria had finished third. In that tournament, it was a 1-1 draw between the two teams.
Syria had beaten India 1-0 in the Asian Cup in Qatar in January in the last meeting between the teams.
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