AFC Asian Cup: India lose 0-3 to Uzbekistan
Doha, Jan 18: Bereft of ideas, a lacklustre Indian football team's woes were compounded by its defensive lapses, resulting in a 0-3 drubbing by a dominant Uzbekistan in the AFC Asian Cup here on Thursday.
This is India's second successive defeat in Group B, having started their campaign with a 0-2 loss to title contenders Australia, in which their spirited performance earned them plaudits.
However, against the central Asian nation at Ahmed bin Ali Stadium, India's performance was a far cry from their display against the Socceroos, a FIFA World Cup regular.
Uzbekistan scored through Abbosbek Fayzullaev (4th minute), Igor Sergeev (18th) and Nasrullaev (45+3) to register their first win in the competition after being held to a stalemate by Syria in their tournament opener.
Hoping to start on a positive note barely days after their promising show against Australia, India, instead, found themselves on the backfoot straightaway and conceded a rather soft goal early on.
The lightning quick Fayzullaev, placed in a favourable position, found the target with a header past the hapless Gurpreet Singh Sandhu after Shukurov headed the ball towards him from a Nasrullaev cross taken at the edge of the Indian penalty area.
Ranked 102 in the world as against their 68-ranked opponents, Igor Stimac's men found the going tough as Uzbekistan looked to rattle the Indian defence with their attacking play.
Unlike the match against Australia, the Indians could not prevent Uzbekistan from splitting their defence wide open in the early part.
In a mood to stamp their authority further, Uzbekistan again benefitted from sloppy defending from their opponents.
Rahul Bheke gave the ball away in the halfway line. Akash Mishra managed to touch the ball but his clearance hit the post before returning to the field of play, and Sergeev did the rest to put his side 2-0 ahead.
Even as the Indians looked to bounce back, there was no letup in Uzbekistan's intensity as they struck their third goal just before the half-time, with Nasrullaev scoring from the rebound as the Indian defence failed to respond to the situation.
Uzbekistan began the second-half with a comfortable cushion and the Blue Tigers needed a miracle to stage a comeback. But all they could do was to avoid a bigger margin of defeat and leave the field a dejected lot.
The damage was inflicted in the first half itself and what did not help the Indians was their ultra defensive tactics which aided their physically stronger and superior rivals. It meant less attacking nous from India.
Lallianzuala Chhangte started on the bench for India, paving the way for Naorem Mahesh Singh, while Anirudh Thapa was included in place of Deepak Tangri. Akash Mishra was brought in for Subhashish Bose.
India will play their final group match against Syria on January 23.
Let the Truth be known. If you read VB and like VB, please be a VB Supporter and Help us deliver the Truth to one and all.
UP: 90 Bangladeshis, including 28 children, held in Mathura for illegal stay
Mathura (UP), May 16 (PTI): As many as 90 Bangladeshi nationals, including many children, were apprehended from Uttar Pradesh's Mathura district on Friday for alleged illegal stay in India, officials said.
They were taken into custody from local brickyards at Khajpur village under the Naujheel police station limits, a senior officer said.
"Regular searches were being conducted throughout the district. During one such operation, police were searching some local brickyards when they came across Bangladeshi nationals working there," SSP Shlok Kumar said.
Giving a break-up, the officer said in all, 35 men, 27 women and 28 children have been taken into custody.
"During interrogation, all of them admitted to being Bangladeshi nationals living illegally in India. They moved to Mathura three to four months back from a neighbouring state. Police are trying to establish their links," the SSP said, adding that their job contractor and other associates are also being questioned.
The officer told PTI that police also recovered some Aadhaar cards from the Bangladeshi nationals, apparently issued on forged documents in some other state.
Further legal proceedings are underway, Kumar said.
