Nehru Cup International Football Tournament 2009, India (19 - 31 August)

INDIA beat SYRIA 6-5

Defending champions India take on Palestine in the opening match of the "ONGC" Nehru Cup on August 19 at the Dr. Ambedkar Stadium in the capital. Due to the Independence Day celebrations the tournament would kickoff a day later.

"The tournament has been shifted for a day and now will start on 19th. Everyone is working hard to give the ground the best shape and we assure that like the previous year's edition this year also it will be a success," AIFF acting president Praful Patel said while announcing the inauguration of the tournament.

India, who beat Syria 1-0 in the 2007 final have been placed in Group A along with Lebanon and Palestine, who replaced Thailand. Thailand was not willing to send their senior team, so they were replaced.
“We had asked all the teams to send their team senior team but Thailand had sent their U-19 team list. So we decided to scrap them and included Palestine,” AIFF General Secretary Alberto Colaco explained the decision.

Group B consists of Syria, Kyrgyzstan and Sri Lanka. The group matches will be played in a round-robin format and the top two teams will qualify for the semifinals to be played on August 27 and 28, while the finals will be played on August 31.

Dr. A.K. Balyan, Director HRD ONGC, said, "ONGC feels proud to be affiliated with AIFF for promoting the football in country and to host the Nehru Cup this year."

Initially the tournament was due to be played by 6 national teams divided into two groups of three teams. The top two in each group would advance to the semi-final stage. Palestine replacing Thailand before being removed from the tournament themselves.

Expected Group

Group A: India, Lebanon, Palestine
Group B: Syria, Kyrgyzstan, Sri Lanka

Revised Group (New Group)

India, Lebanon, Syria, Kyrgyzstan, Sri Lanka

Teams Squad
Lebanon Team, Kyrgyzstan Team, Sri Lanka Team

Group Stage

Team	Pld	W	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts
India	2	1	1	2	2	0	3
Lebanon	2	1	1	4	4	0	3
Kyrgyzstan	2	0	2	1	4	-3	0
Sri Lanka	1	1	0	4	3	+1	3
Syria	1	1	0	2	0	+2	3

Tournament Fixtures:
(all matches at the Ambedkar Stadium, Delhi)

August 19: India 0-1 Lebanon (18.30 IST)
August 20: Syria 2-0 Kyrgyzstan (18.30 IST)
August 22: Sri Lanka 4-3 Lebanon (18.30 IST)
August 23: India 2-1 Kyrgyzstan (18.30 IST)
August 24: Syria vs Sri Lanka (18.30 IST)
August 25: Kyrgyzstan vs Lebanon (18.30 IST)
August 26: India vs Sri Lanka (18.30 IST)
August 27: Syria vs Lebanon (18.30 IST)
August 28: Sri Lanka vs Kyrgyzstan (18.30 IST)
August 29: India vs Syria (18.30 IST)

August 31: Final (18.30 IST)
India 6-5 Syria

India beat Syria by 5-4 in penalty shoot out as India manage to register its second straight Title win over Syria. India beat much high ranked Team and unbeaten in the preliminary rounds.