Lacklustre Lions held by Syria

That seems strange given that it was Cameroon's first match of the tournament. Despite it being well-known that their most reputed stars would be busy playing in Europe and hence unavailable to make the trip to India, the addition of the African nation to the five-team line-up had football enthusiasts in this country kicking their heels waiting for the Nehru Cup to start.

But on Friday evening, the crowd, besides the bunch of Syrian supporters, consisted of a small group of Cameroonian fans. In a way, though, it was better that way — fewer people left the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium disappointed by the Indomitable Lions' performance.

Although they took the lead - rather early the first time around - but going by the number of wayward attempts and mis-passes, it was clearly a B-side, derived from home-based clubs, that is a pale shadow of their main team.

Both their goals came through set-pieces - Kingue Mpondo headed home off a 17th-minute corner, and Ebanga Bertin, who delivered that corner, converted from the spot after Kologny Vigny Merime was tripped by Syrian goalie Mosab Balhous - and even though they physically imposed themselves on the opposition, they could not contain the spirited men in red, especially their playmaker, Oday Abdul Jafal, who had a hand in both of Syria's equalisers.

Three minutes from half-time, Jafal delivered the free-kick off which Ala Al Shbli, who scored a consolation goal against India in the opener, headed into the goal. And 11 from the final whistle, with the ball bobbing around in the box, Jafal's long-ranger from the edge of the box found the top left corner of the net and kept Syria alive in the tournament.