India vs Syria Player Ratings: Irandust and Pablo Sabbag impress; but Gurpreet, Suresh underwhelm | Intercontinental Cup 2024

Syria clinched the 2024 Intercontinental Cup title with a compelling 3-0 win over India at the G.M.C. Balayogi Stadium, Hyderabad on Monday (September 9th). The visitors took an early lead in the 7th minute through Mahmoud Al Aswad’s clever finish and dominated the majority of the first half.

The Blue Tigers’ spirits were rekindled in the second half, but Syria held on and doubled the lead in the 76th minute when Daleho Irandust’s effort went through Gurpreet Singh Sandhu. Syria then got their third goal in the 95th minute with Pablo Sabbag converting from close range. their clean sheet to have a perfect Intercontinental Cup campaign. Here are the player ratings for the game.

Syria (by Uttiyo Sarkar)

Elias Hadaya – 7.5

Hadaya was made to work after an easy start but looked sharp in his goal. Made a few great reactive saves and frustrated the Blue Tigers with his diligent work. Produced a few brilliant saves late on to get his clean sheet.

Moaiad Al Khouli – 5.0

Khouli was ran ragged by the constant Indian attacks through his side and he was caught out of position a few times too. Got outwitted on a few occasions, but he’s fortunate nothing came off it.

Aiham Ousou – 8.0

Ousou was a tough tackling, commanding figure in the backline. Marshaled a strong defensive line and made clutch challenges to disrupt India’s moves throughout the game.

Emiliano Amor – 7.5

Amor looked comfortable with his composed defending and ensured that his side had a stubborn defensive line. Kept Manvir quiet and came up with necessary clearances throughout.

Khaled Kourdoghli – 7.0

The hard-working defender covered a lot of ground on the left, using his physicality and tenacity to keep Chhangte relatively quiet. Made a few encouraging forward runs and showed commendable energy levels.

Thaer Krouma – 7.0

The Mumbai City man played in a defensive midfield role and sat in front of his backline to constantly ruin India’s movement down the central areas. Got in good possession to make timely possession recoveries and moved the ball forward well.

Mohammed Osman – 6.5

Osman was quite the energetic and tenacious figure in midfield, covering a lot of ground and helping win back possession for his side. Moved the ball around efficiently to ensure his side had no problem in controlling things.

Daleho Irandust – 9.0

Irandust was the orchestrator for the majority of Syria’s attacking moves, weaving his way past players and creating some prominent chances with his impressive delivery. Created the move resulting in Al Asward’s strike.  Made a smart run and was a bit fortunate for his goal due to Gurpreet’s error.

Mahmoud Al Aswad – 7.0

Al Aswad showed impressive reaction timing in latching onto the second ball and blasting a shot past Gurpreet for the opener. Got himself into great positions throughout the game with his smart movement, but lacked that special element with his final product after his goal.

Noah Shamoun – 5.5

Shamoun made a few nice runs to trouble Nikhil Poojary, getting himself in nice areas outside the box. But he struggled to nail his final delivery or test Gurpreet.

Alaa Aldin Dali – 5.0

Dali almost made it 2-0 soon after the opener when his shot rattled the bar. Made the Indian defenders work and his link-up play was nice, but he lacked that ruthlessness with his finishing and frustrated teammates with his questionable decision-making at times.

Substitutes

Pablo Sabbag – 7.5

Sabbag did a great job with his link-up play, moving the ball around nicely to encourage his teammates forward. Got an assist for the second goal with a clever flick. Finished off the game with a nice finish from close range.

Mahmoud Al Mawas – 7.0

Al Mawas ensured that Syria troubled India on the break, making some great forward passes and getting into dangerous areas to trouble the hosts. Picked out Sabbag nicely for his goal.

Elmar Abraham – N/A

Abraham couldn’t really impose himself in a late cameo.

Mustafa Abdullatif –  N/A

Abdullatif looked sharp after his late introduction, making some nice runs and passes to trouble India.

India ( By Praketh Reddy)

Gurpreet Singh Sandhu – 5.5

Starting his first game of the tournament, Gurpreet should have reacted better to the first goal conceded but made a few good saves in the first half. His distribution was good and he was the reason for the home side still being in the game. He was good with the ball but yet again was poor to concede the second goal in the second half, and was unlucky to concede another late goal on the counter. 

Nikhil Poojary – 6.0 

Poojary played high up when India was defending and tried his best to press the Syrian defense in attack to create chances without much output. He cleared a chance off the line, and he did well attacking-wise but was caught off position. Eventually, with the team trailing 1-0, he was substituted at half-time. 

Rahul Bheke – 6.0 

Rahul Bheke had a good first half with good positioning and he stopped a lot of counters from the Syrian attack. He performed his duties to his best both defensive and attacking-wise.

Anwar Ali – 6.0 

The new East Bengal centre-back was deployed on the left-hand side and was unlucky with the deflection resulting in the first goal. To his credit, he grew in confidence as the game progressed and made a few good runs into the opposition box but overall, he did not have a good day as the defense and midfield were overpowered.

Subhashish Bose – 5.5

Bose who started on the left was found wanting many times, frequently being caught out of position in the first half. He put in a few crosses into the box in the first half and did well attacking-wise. He won the majority of his aerial duels and was the pick of India’s defenders as he went into the Syrian box multiple times. 

Jeakson Singh – 6.0

Playing fiddle to Suresh, Jeakson did not get the ball much to create much of an impact in the game. He lasted 90 minutes but could not do much to stop the Syrian attack on the counter, as he was overpowered by their seamless linkup play.  

Suresh Singh Wangjam – 5.0

Suresh was caught in the press by Syria, losing the ball quite a few times initially, and looked lost in midfield, getting substituted at halftime with minimal impact on the game.

Nandhakumar Sekar – 6.5

Nandhakumar created India’s first threat of any meaning on the left flank. He tried his best to attack and was everywhere on the pitch. He, unfortunately, lacked the killer instinct on the flank and in attacking positions but was one of the brighter threats in attack for the country.  He was eventually substituted in the second half. 

Lallianzuala Chhangte – 6.0 

The winger got India’s first good chance of the game but failed to keep his header on target in the first half. He found himself in good positions initially but failed to dribble past any of the Syrian defenders. He could have done better in the attack but his failure to finish a few chances combined with bad delivery did not help India, but a lot of India’s attacking threat was initiated by him. 

Manvir Singh – 6.0

Manvir had a quiet first half and did not receive much of the ball in the first half. Unlike usual, it looked like he had another striker in Sahal and that resulted in him seeing very little of the ball. He was subbed off late in the second half. 

Sahal Abdul Samad – 6.5 

Deployed with Manvir in attack, Sahal had good chances to play Chhangte through but could not. He had a good chance to score late in the first half and forced Elias Hadiya into a good save. Later he tried to create some chances but failed to play the final ball well and was taken off at the hour mark. 

Substitutions

Ashish Rai – 6.0 

Came on for Nikhil Poojary in the second half and did his duties to the best of his ability 

Apuia Ralte – 6.0

Coming on for Suresh Singh in the second half, he looked better and distributed a few good balls. 

Naorem Mahesh Singh – 6.0

Coming on for Sahal in the second half, he put in a few good crosses forcing the Syrian keeper into a few good saves and pushed to create a few chances but eventually failed to do so. 

Liston Colaco – N/A

Liston was unlucky not to see his shot go in as it hit the crossbar and rebounded away from a tantalizingly close distance to the goal line. 

Edmund Lalrindika – N/A 

Edmund in his brief cameo was willing to take risks and shot on goal in one instance, forcing the keeper into a good save late in the second half. 

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