Abdukarazak al-Hussein scored twice Sunday to lead Syria to a shock 2-1 win over Saudi Arabia in its opening group match at the Asian Cup, the team's first appearance in the tournament in 15 years.
Al-Hussein found the net in the 37th minute against the three-time Asian Cup winners at Al Rayyan Stadium, before Saudi Arabia substitute Taiseer al-Jassem equalized in the 60th.
Al-Hussein restored Syria's lead with a goal in the 62nd minute.
Syria leads Group B with three points, one more than Japan and Jordan, which drew 1-1 earlier Sunday at Qatar Sports Club Stadium.
''Frankly, I did not expect to win,'' Syria coach Valeriu Tita said. ''The game was great and the players performance was very good.''
The match was tight throughout, with Saudi Arabia's Nasser al-Shamrani having made the first real chance in the 28th minute. The striker collected a pass from Abdo Ateef but, with only goalkeeper Musab Balhous to beat, missed the target by a few yards.
Saudi Arabia equalized when Manaf Aboshgair's corner was headed in by al-Jassim. However, the Syrians launched a counterattack three minutes later that ended with al-Hussein's winning goal.
Saudi Arabia's official news agency said Jose Peseiro was fired as national team coach after the loss, with former coach Naser al-Johar appointed as his replacement.
Peseiro had defended his team's performance after the match and said the result was unjust.
''We did not deserve to lose, but we did and we are disappointed,'' said Peseiro, who took over the team in 2009. ''I am disappointed with the result and, although our performance was not very good, it was also not very bad.
''They put their maximum into the match, they gave it their spirit and played with their hearts and not their heads sometimes.''
Saudi Arabia last won the Asia Cup in 1996 but was runner-up in 2000 and in 2007.
Tita said the shock win over Saudi Arabia has raised expectations as to how far the 107th-ranked Syrians can go.
''This is just a start,'' Tita said. ''There are two difficult matches coming and we have to prepare ourselves.''
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Lineups
Saudi Arabia: Waleed Abdullah, Abdullah Shuhail, Osama Hawsawi, Osama al-Harbi, Mishal al-Saeedi, Ahmed Ateef, Manaf Aboshagair (Nawaf al-Abid, 66), Saud Kariri, Abdoh Autef (Taiseeral-Jassam, 45), Nassir al-Shamrani (Naif Hazazi, 55), Yasser al-Qahtani.
Syria: Mosab Balhous, Belal Abduldaim, Ali Dyab, Feras Ismail, Nadim Sabag, Abdulkader Deka, Jehad al-Hussein (Qussai Habib, 76), Abdulrazak al-Hussein, Wael Ayan (Samer Aouad, 83), Mohammed al-Zino, Sanharib Maliki (Adel Abdullah, 65).
