Both teams played out an exciting 90 minutes where they came close to open their account on numerous occasions.

Egged on by some 20,000 fans and Bollywood star Salman Khan, the hosts put up an inspiring performance and there seem to be hardly any difference between the 156th ranked India and 95th ranked Syrians.

In fact, India were the better team as they created more opportunities but they unfortunately lacked a finisher.

Skipper Bhaichung Bhutia and his striking partner Chettri were unlucky, as on their day they could have ended the game well within 90 minutes.

Bhutia was on target as early as in the second minute after he found a through pass and had just the goalie to beat but Balhous put on a stunning dive to thwart the attack.

Balhous had a busy first 10 minutes after both Bhutia and Chettri broke past the Syrian defence but failed to find the net.

Syrian forwards finally broke free after the half-hour mark as Alaga and Mohammed Alzino launched a flurry of attack to rattle the Indian defence but Paul stood solid.

After India failed to score, Houghton played his last trick by bringing in Renedy in the 101st minute in place of Anthony Pereira and the winger responded by firing in a swerving free-kick.

The roaring crowd fell into silence when Dyab came from nowhere to stun the defence with his header.

In the end, it was not enough for Syria as Paul proved to be the match-winner for the hosts.