SIDON, Lebanon: It is a measure of how far Lebanon have come in the last six months that their 1-0 win over Iraq in Sidon Sunday had a clear air of inevitability about it. Except for a shot from Amjid Radi in the 75th minute that hit the side netting, Lebanon were never troubled in a comfortable friendly win that perhaps did more to show off their recent development than did their much vaunted win over South Korea.

Shorn of their foreign based players – most notably Hassan Maatouk, Roda Antar and Youssef Mohammad – Lebanon played as if each player had never played with anyone else. The understanding that has developed between the players was clear, each pass was made with intention and the interplay between Mahmoud al-Ali and Ahmad Zreik was particularly sharp.

“This expression was our aim in training ever since our first training session [in August]. I have always told the players when they step onto the field every single player should know what their role is and that of their teammate,” coach Theo Bucker told The Daily Star.

“What we have to do is to get away from thinking 4-4-2 and 4-3-3; this is all [nonsense], my system is ‘P and P,’ pressing and playing. This is the secret to our success.”

And play they did. Haytham Faour was again a silky but intimidating presence in the center of midfield, imposing his will on the game from the first whistle to the last. A period in the first half aptly summed up Bucker’s plans for his players. For almost five minutes Iraq pressed Lebanon deep in their own half. Not once did any of the protagonists – Ali Hammam, Ali al-Saadi, Bilal Najjarinne, Walid Ismael in defense and Faour and Nader Matar in midfield – feel the temptation to quick the ball long. Instead each player calmly held on to possession regardless of the ferocity of the Iraqi pressing, passing the ball between each other and most importantly never ceding possession.

“This [giving away possession] is forbidden in football,” Bucker said, acknowledging his side’s strength. But, he added: “Based on our performance I [have to say] I’m not completely happy because we are able to play better, in future we want to transfer the play with more speed. If there is no safe pass we don’t play a pass.”

While Lebanon were slow to attack, in the first half particularly, when they did, the Cedars broke with invention and touch. Most of their plays ran down the right-hand side of the field with Ali and Zreik exchanging passes, and Matar and Akram Moghrabi joining in attacks.

When the goal came, is was beautiful simplicity. Lebanon pulled Iraq’s defensive position on the left-hand side out of kilter before Matar threaded Ali through on goal when the Ahed man gave the ball to Zreik who just had to tap the ball into the net.

Ali had had a goal disallowed just five minutes before and Haytham Chaito could have added another after a slalom run through the Iraqi backline but there weren’t many complaints after the game when the several thousand fans who packed the Rafik Hariri Stadium flooded the pitch to congratulate their heroes. Just yards away from Bucker and his admiring throng stood the lonely figure of Brazilian legend Zico, Iraq’s manager and one of the finest footballers to ever play the game. No one even looked his way until Bucker shook his hand.

“We deserved to win, we were the better team and we could have had at least two more goals,” said Bucker.