Tue, 30 Nov, -0001
Tehran: Three late goals ensured Syria kept their hopes of qualifying for the 2015 AFC Asian Cup alive as a 4-0 victory over Singapore on Friday secured a first win in Group A.
Sanharib Malki had handed Syria an early lead at PAS Stadium, but Hussam Al Sayed’s side were then frustrated by Singapore goalkeeper Hassan Sunny on numerous occasions as they looked to revenge last month’s 2-1 defeat in the Lion City.
But with Ahmad Al Douni, Ouday Al Jaffal and Abdulfatah Al Agha eventually netting inside the final 10 minutes, Syria ran out comfortable winners to move above Singapore and into third place in Group A ahead of next week’s meeting with Oman in Tehran.
“We did play a very good match despite the fact that we had only spent two days gearing up ahead of the encounter with Singapore. I am very much satisfied with my players’ performance and believe every one of them performed very well,” said Syria coach Al Sayed, who was only appointed on a caretaker basis just a week ago.
“I am very happy with the result because we were only looking for the three points and we achieved that at the end of the game.
“While staying in Tehran, we have three days to prepare ourselves for the next match against Oman. Although our chances are slim, we know if we want to qualify for the finals in Australia, we must win our two remaining matches against Oman and Jordan and still it depends on other results.”
Needing a first win of the campaign, Syria started well and opened the scoring after 10 minutes as Malki beat defender Mohammad Afiq to Ahmad Al Douni’s pull back and the striker shot across the visiting custodian to open the scoring.
The Singapore goal continued to come under pressure as the half progressed as Sunny kept out Omar Kharbin’s header at the foot of the back post before Hamid Mido shot wide from the resulting corner.
Syria, though, should have added a second nine minutes before half-time as Kharbin beat the Singapore offside trap, but with Sunny charging off his line towards the edge of the penalty area, the midfielder lifted his shot over the crossbar.
Syria continued to press for a second goal at the start of the second half and Sunny had to be on his toes to push away Malki’s low skidding strike just before the hour mark.
Al Douni, though, should have added that crucial second goal with 13 minutes remaining as the striker met Al Agha’s cross at the back post, but with the goal at his mercy, the striker inexplicably lifted his shot over the crossbar.
But after Sunny was called into action to push away Al Agha’s header soon after, Syria finally added a second goal with seven minutes remaining as the substitute striker’s deflected cross dropped kindly at the back post and Al Douni was on hand to slide the ball between Sunny and the post.
And a third goal arrived four minutes later as Al Jaffal beat Sunny with his first touch before Al Agha’s stoppage time header capped an eye-catching display from the substitute to seal the win.
“It was a deserved win for Syria. They were much better and much more experienced than us,” said Singapore coach Bernd Stange.
“We played up to our level up until the 83rd minute, but from then until the end my players broke down as a team and the 84th minute was the time when everything started to fall apart.
“We were missing six of our key players for this match and I’m sure that if we had them with us we could have gained a much better result against Syria like the first game when we beat them at home. In a small country like Singapore, when you lose six key players for unforeseen reasons, it’s way too difficult to replace them with new players.”
Photo: AFP