India vs Uzbekistan at AFC Asian Cup: Stimac and co brace for strong challenge

Match Details

Kickoff: Thursday, January 18, 8pm IST

Venue: Ahmed bin Ali Stadium, Al Rayyan

Telecast in India: Sports18 Network, online live streaming on JioCinema

The Big Picture

India head coach Igor Stimac extolled the virtues of his squad – “honest, hard-working people, who are committed to whatever we ask of them” – after their defeat against Australia in their AFC Asian Cup 2023 opener but knows it will take more than that to advance deeper into this tournament.

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Step one would be a stronger performance against Uzbekistan (world rank 68). It would go a long way in boosting India’s (world rank 102) chances for qualifying for the knockouts… but this could arguably be a tougher test than even Australia, even if skipper Sunil Chhetri qualified it by saying, “Uzbekistan are not Australia, but they’re a good side, nonetheless.”

That’s because the Central Asian giants play front-foot, aggressive football and while India’s defence handled Australia’s aerial prowess with reasonable comfort, Uzbekistan have it in them to mix it up in attack. Most of their players, like India’s, play in their own national league but that doesn’t hold much promise for India considering what usually happens when an Uzbek top division side faces an Indian one (anyone remembers Navbahor 3 -0 Mumbai City, or worse, Nasaf 6 – 0 (ATK) Mohun Bagan?).

Uzbekistan were in poor form against a resolute (very Hector-Cuper-ian) Syrian defence in their opener (a 0-0 draw) and coach Srecko Katanec knows India presents their best chance for three points in the group now. In charge of Uzbekistan since 2021, Katanec has a strong record (18W, 5D, 6L) and knows that the minimum expectations of his team are to make the knockouts. Which means they should, by all rights, come out all guns blazing.

If you’re an Indian fan, it’d be reasonable to expect another tough defensive-heavy match but you’d also appreciate a bit of counterattacking intent (which was not there at all vs Australia). India have players who can remain calm on the ball now, it’s up to the team to showcase that against their on-paper superior opponents.

Form Guide

(Most recent first)

India: LLWLL

That does not make for inspiring reading – even considering how tough the opponents have been recently. Against Australia, there was a real chance for a famous rearguard-action-forced draw but as we know at this level, one error is all it takes. The same rules apply against a formidable Uzbek side.

Uzbekistan: DDWWD

Compared to India, Uzbekistan have been quite solid form. The last two draws came with contrasting emotions, though. One was a superb come-from-behind draw against Iran that would feel like a point gained while the latest was their opener here, one they would look at as two points dropped against Syria. They’ll be keen to make amends against India.

The Head-to-Head

Close your eyes around about now, India fans. Or rather, peek through your fingers.

Total games played: 6
India wins: 0
Uzbekistan wins: 4
Draws: 2

The matches, peculiarly, have all come between 1997 and 2001 with ’98 seeing three of them. There was a 4-0 thrashing for India in one of them, but most were close affairs. A right proper classic happened in 1999 in the qualification for the 2000 AFC Asian Cup: India led 2-1 (thanks to goals from Jo Paul Ancheri and IM Vijayan) for 77 minutes before two goals in ten minutes sealed the deal for Uzbekistan.

The Concerns

For India The tactical questions that loomed before Australia loom large here too: who replaces Sahal Abdul Samad as the creative hub of the side? Samad, unlikely to be fully fit to start the game, was replaced by the much more defensive Deepak Tangri against Australia as India made it a flat three in midfield – that gave the team defensive solidity and absolutely nothing going forward. That was a reasonable tradeoff considering the calibre of the opposition probably, but at some point, India will need to threaten the opposition goal – can Brandon Fernandes prove to be the answer to their creativity woes?

For Uzbekistan Without their talismanic striker Eldor Shomurodov, Uzbekistan looked a bit lost against Syria in their opener. They controlled possession and passed the ball around well enough but managed just two shots on target. They’ll probably control the ball for vast swathes against India too, but Katanec will want his team to convert that into creating proper big chances.

The Key Players

For India We said this last time around, but repeating a truth never gets old: there remains but one Sunil Chhetri. Sandesh Jhingan and Rahul Bheke will have a lot of blocking to do as they did against Australia, and they remain key players. But they might be tested in different ways against Uzbekistan: having to face more intricate ground play than they did against the cross-spamming Aussies.