145;A win to generate hope146;

8220;We have worked hard for over a year now, and it8217;s not just 11 players, the entire squad worked for it. We beat a good side today, make no mistake Syria is really a good side,8221; Houghton said.

Highly impressed with his team, especially the youngsters, Bob said the efforts of the team are now showing.

8220;The team has been playing well since the Asian Games, but now the youngsters in the team are ready to take over charge and that bodes well for future,8221; he said.

Bob singled out Gourmangi Singh and Steven Dias as two gains from the meet. He even praised the heart and skill goalkeeper Subrato Paul showed.

Skipper Bhaichung may be on the wrong side of 30s, but he is far from his twilight as he showed today. 8220;Bhaichung has looked sharper in this tournament than before.8221;

The skipper said: 8220;The win will rank as one of the biggest of my career. It should build confidence in the players. We have the World Cup qualifier against Lebanon, the AFC Challenge Cup early next year and the team should build towards them.8221;