Although the Indian men’s football team garnered praises for their resilience against Australia, despite a 0-2 defeat, a 0-3 loss against Uzbekistan in their second AFC Asian Cup 2024 match has thrown a spanner in the works of Igor Stimac and his players.
Returning from injury, Anirudh Thapa returned to the fore in this match, but the Mohun Bagan Super Giant midfielder could barely make any impact. The White Wolves dominated possession from the first minute, effectively establishing their superiority.
The first goal came in only the fourth minute of the match, courtesy of a three-member Uzbek move. Left-back Sherzod Nasrullaev floated a cross from the left flank, which was met with the head of midfielder Otabek Shukurov. As the last element of the sequence, the ball found its way towards Abbosbek Fayzullaev – the 20-year-old winger who plies his trade for Russian side CSKA Moscow in club football – who guided his header past the Indian goalkeeper, Gurpreet Singh Sandhu.
The trickster had a crucial role to play in the second goal as well, in the 18th minute of the game. Sprinting down the left flank, he launched a grounded cross which found Akash Mishra putting in a sliding tackle with all his might. Albeit the left-back’s efforts could easily have resulted in an own-goal, it ricocheted off the woodwork before being tucked into an empty net by veteran forward Igor Sergeyev.
One of the rare sights of goal India had in this match was in the 45th minute, when winger Naorem Mahesh Singh fired a left-footed attempt with considerable power from outside the box, only to be parried away by the Uzbek goalkeeper, Utkir Yusupov.
Four minutes later, the score read 3-0 in Uzbekistan’s four, with another defensive lapse proving to be fatal for the Indian side. Another full-back – Farrukh Sayfiev this time around – delivered a cross from the right flank, which struck the training leg of Sherzod Nasrullaev. For the second instance in the match, the ball struck the crossbar only to find a player in white again, which was Nasrullaev on this occasion, and the defender obliged by guiding it past Gurpreet.
India Huff and Puff in Second Half, but Don’t Score
India huffed and puffed, and threw a few punches in the second half, one of which came in the form of Rahul Bheke striking the crossbar on one occasion, and forcing a brilliant save from Yusupov on another. But fortune did not smile on either the Mumbai City FC defender, or the Indian team, as Uzbekistan protected their clean sheet.
Having lost two matches in a row, the last group stage match against Syria – to be held in Al Khor’s Al Bayt Stadium on 23 January – is effectively a must-win game for India, should they aspire to keep their round of 16 aspirations alive.
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