A dream come true for Syria, says coach Cuper
Al Khor, Qatar - Hector Cuper described Syria’s historic 1-0 victory over India in their Asian Cup Group B tie on Tuesday as “a dream come true”.
The win confirmed Syria’s place in the Round of 16, marking the first-ever entry for the Qasioun Eagles into the knockout stage of the continental showpiece. “Our team spared nothing and showed incredible determination. They sacrificed a lot and I am glad the result has made the Syrian people happy,” said Cuper. “We started with the dream of qualifying for the Asian Cup, which was followed by an ambition to make it to the Round of 16.
The Argentine credited the victory to the team’s ability to remain organised in the face of pressure and saw no concern about the 75 minutes it took to wear out the Indian defence in order to score the solitary goal of the evening.
“I always prefer to play in an organised, systematic manner even if that means that we get our desired result a little later than is ideal,” he said. “I know the players wanted to score and they did get the job done, and that’s all that matters.”
“Omar (Khrbin) was not fully fit and since the team was performing fairly well in the first half, I didn’t deem it necessary for him to come in any sooner. But I think we introduced him at the right time to break down the Indian backline.”
It was the same game plan that India head coach Igor Stimac started the match with – to push Syria into exhaustion for an hour before introducing fresh legs.
“Syria are obviously the more physical side, and hence, the idea was to tire them out by the 60th minute and then make some key substitutions but the plan didn’t work,” said Stimac.