The Indian football team ended their 2019 Hero Intercontinental Cup campaign by holding Syria to a hard-fought 1-1 draw at the EKA Arena in Ahmedabad on Tuesday. The point gained from the match was the only one that the Blue Tigers won from their three encounters. Syria, meanwhile, find themselves out of the tournament as they finished with four points from three matches. Tajikistan and DPR Korea, who each have six points, will now contest for the title on July 19.

• Narender Gahlot scored his first senior goal just after the half hour mark.
• Substitute Jerry Lalrinzuala gave away a penalty at the 77^th minute.
• Syria captain Firas Alkhatib converted the spot-kick to level the scoreline.

After the loss to DPR Korea, Stimac had suggested that he had learned a great deal about his squad, hinting that he had a first XI in mind. Despite not much riding on the match, the Croatian named a strong starting line-up, making eight changes to the unit that started against the Koreans.

Sunil Chhetri led the line with the returning Sahal Abdul Samad slotting just in behind. Lallianzuala Chhangte and Udanta Singh flanked the midfield duo of Amarjit Singh Kiyam and Anirudh Thapa, the former earning a third consecutive starting berth. In defence, Narender Gahlot and Rahul Bheke stood in front of Gurpreet Singh Sandhu, while Mandar Rao Dessai and Pritam Kotal occupied the full back slots.

The Assyrians kicked off proceedings in front of a packed EKA Arena, and very nearly silenced them within the first few moments. Kotal failed to deal with a ball in behind, allowing Mohammad Almarmour to have a free run at Sandhu. The forward’s shot, however, wasn’t that impressive as it sailed over the bar.

The Blue Tigers responded three minutes later with a glaring chance of their own, as Udanta twisted and turned his marker before crossing a sensational ball that had the Syrian defence scrabbling. Chhetri and Chhangte both stretched their muscles to try and get to the ball, but just missed it by a whisker.

Firas Alkhatib then tried his luck from a freekick ten minutes later, but Sandhu had it covered even if the shot had been on target. Fajr Ibrahim’s men then seized control of the ball without really causing any problems for the well drilled India defence. Almarmour had a decent chance at the 25^th minute mark, but his header was dealt with relative comfort by Sandhu.

Five minutes later, the dangerous Alkhatib came eyeball to eyeball with Sandhu, pouncing on a misjudgement from Gahlot and showing an incredible touch. His effort though, wasn’t on target and remained the best Syria could offer in a goalless first period.

Stimac’s men started the second 45 in exhilarating fashion, showing great composure, awareness and confidence. Chhetri and Sahal combined in the final third, five minutes into it, releasing Udanta with a brilliant pass that left the Syrian defence worried. The winger however, couldn’t quite pick out the cross, mainly due to some last-ditch Syrian defence.

Ibrahim’s men looked rattled following that sequence of play, and paid the price two minutes later. Thapa wiped in a beautiful looking corner, enticing the likes of Chhetri, Bheke and Sahal onto it. However, it was the 18-year-old Gahlot who got on the end of it, beating Tamer Hag Mohamad to score his first senior professional goal.

Syria needed a win to make it through to the final, and hence started committing more men forward. Their goal came courtesy of that, as Ahmad Alahmad was brought down clumsily by substitute Jerry Lalrinzuala, leaving the referee with no choice but to award a penalty. The Syrian skipper, Alkhatib stepped up to take the spot kick and converted it with ease, thus becoming the all-time leading goalscorer for his country.

The forward then was at the centre of a barrage of chances, going close with his shot and freekick at the 80^th and 84^th minute, respectively. But the Indian contingent managed to hold on till the very end, ensuring they picked up a point after an enthralling 90 minutes of play.