Syria score over Bangladesh

Syria struck twice in the second session to score a comfortable 2-0 victory over Bangladesh in the ONGC Nehru Cup football tournament in Delhi on Saturday.

Syed Nayeemuddin's debut as coach of the Bangladesh team was soured as Maher El Sayed (48th minute) and Zyad Chaabo (79th) found the net for the Syrians, the highest ranked team in the five-nation tournament.

After observing what the Bangladeshis had to offer, the pedigreed West Asians struck hard in the second session.

After a neat interchange of passes at the edge of the rival penalty area, captain Maher El Sayed found the top right hand corner of the goal with custodian Biplab Bhattacharjee looking on helplessly.

The Syrians then took the game by the scruff of the neck and gave Syed Nayeemuddin's side no respite. Bangladesh survived further damage, more by luck than by design.

But their luck soon ran out.

The Syrians made the match safe in the final quarter of the hour when Ali Dyeb passed to Chaabo from the top of the box and the latter dribbled past a defender and beat the keeper at the right post.

Syria could have won with a bigger margin had they made use of all the opportunities that came their way.

Bhattacharjee came to his side's rescue when he dived to his left to save a rasping shot from Feras Esmaeel. But he had the left upright to thank when a scorcher from Mohammed Alzeno came back off the woodwork.

Nayeem made all the substitutions at his disposal but could do nothing to avoid defeat in his first international match as Bangladesh coach.

On the other hand, Syria, coached by former international Fajer Ibraahem, warmed up nicely for bigger battles ahead.  

Md Zahid Hossain was the most impressive player on the pitch for Bangladesh but his energetic runs down the right flank were brought to naught by the side's lack of teeth in the attack.

The result also vindicated the gulf of nearly 60 places between the teams in the FIFA rankings.

The first half was a largely insipid affair with precious few goal-scoring opportunities.

The match was confined to the midfield and the forward lines of both teams showed a distinct lack of cohesion.

Both goalkeepers -- Bhattacharjee of Bangladesh and Mowssab Blahowss of Syria -- were hardly troubled in the first 45 minutes.

With lack of incisive moves from the midfield in the first period, the teams were reduced to taking shots from a distance, most of which did not require the respective custodians to extend themselves.

Kyrgyzstan open their campaign in the tournament on Sunday when they take on Cambodia, who will try to recover after the thrashing they got at the hands of India.