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.
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.
