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Uzbekistan thrashed India 3-0 in a one-sided match at the AFC Asian Cup organizational level, in which the Central Asian giants showed India the hallmark of a wonderful footballing truth: keeping things simple.
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Take, for example, the 3 who scored.
First goal: Jalololiddin Masharipov takes a great ball from the left. Igor Sergeev (190 cm tall) rises and heads towards the far post. Abbosbek Fayzullayev nods. Defensively, poor marking and trying to stay in the most sensible flight (probably a bit understandable considering what happened when Gurpreet Singh Sandhu overcommitted himself against Australia in the last match), but the key remained in Uzbekistan’s targeted attacks.
Second goal: Fayzullayev runs towards the counterattack, bouncing in front of Rahul Bheke as if he wasn’t there. Rolling through space, he promptly sent an adorable ball into the six-yard penalty area. Akash Mishra glides by, bullet barrels blazing. The post, and Sergeev is there to touch it. There was no hesitation in Fayzullayev’s decision-making and he showed all the difference.
Third goal: right-back Farrukh Sayfiev runs off and Oston Urunov puts him in. Sayfiev hit a very good ball to the far post, where an underlying left-back, Sherzod Nasrulloev, beat Manvir Singh and sent him home a few yards. Deleted. . . Sergeev and Fayzullayev took the Indian centre-backs with them.
There were more chances for the Uzbeks, especially in the first half where Fayzullayev and Masharipov did what they wanted to, when they wanted to it, and they eased along in the second to close the game out.
India had a few chances in the first, notably after their main and urgent bewildered goalkeeper, Utkir Yusupov, and Anirudh Thapa played a decent ball inside the box, where Sunil Chhetri made it look like no one else, but they were far from the speed of the period. Uzbekistan’s slowdown in the second half saw India spring into action: Rahul KP hit the crossbar, Rahul Bheke made a clever headstop, but chances came very rarely as Uzbekistan kept them at bay with worrying ease.
India had made 3 adjustments to the starting eleven opposed to Australia (only one due to injury: Mahesh Singh for Lallianzuala Chhangte) in a bid to have a more offensive outlook, but it had little effect on the Uzbeks. They also had a slow draw against Syria, but on Thursday they showed what they are capable of.
India will now face Syria on Tuesday, January 23 and will be looking to win to finish third and stay in contention for a position in the knockout stages. Judging by what we saw against Uzbekistan, they will have to temporarily aim to achieve that.
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