KOLKATA, INDIA: India vs Uruguay ended on a sour note as the visitors beat India 6-1 in the final encounter of the ongoing FIFA international window at the Salt Lake Stadium in Calcutta (Kolkata) on Tuesday, October 6. A brace from Maxi Araujo and goals from Darwin Nunez, Rodrigo Zalazar, Juan Sanabria and Rodrigo Aguirre sealed the deal for La Celeste.
Anirudh Thapa scored the lone goal for India, earning his stripes to become just the second-ever Indian since Manas Bhattacharya to achieve this feat against Uruguay. Bhattacharya had earned his right to glory in India’s 1-3 defeat to the same opponents at the Eden Gardens in the same city in the 1982 Nehru Cup.
The visitors opened the scoring in the 11th minute of this India vs Uruguay clash when India defender Pramveer brought Federico Vinas down inside the box, forcing referee Rustum Lutfullin to award a penalty. Although replays suggested that the teenager had clearly won the ball with his back foot, the decision stood, allowing Nunez to convert from the spot.
Anirudh Thapa benefitted from Uruguay goalkeeper Thiago Cardozo’s poor handling
India tried to respond soon, and Ryan Williams and Manvir Singh brought out a tango to get the Blue Tigers moving towards an attacking approach. In the 22nd minute, the former managed to get some space in midfield and shot straight at goalkeeper Thiago Cardozo, who spilt it and allowed Thapa to tap the ball in with his left foot.
This forced La Celeste into making a change in their shape, with Emiliano Martinez now adding heft to their midfield alongside Rodrigo Bentancur. Earlier, the latter was the sole pivot between their central defenders Jose Gimenez and Santiago Mourino. Bringing Martinez in closed down spaces, and this decision, in effect, shut the Blue Tigers out of this India vs Uruguay game.
An interruption followed soon afterwards due to lightning, because of which play was held up for the best part of half an hour. Upon restarting, Araujo got his first goal when he was brilliantly set up from the right wing by a cross-field grounded pass from Nahitan Nandez. Araujo pulled comfortably ahead of his markers Anwar Ali and Pramveer, and managed to tap the ball into the net.
The hosts went into the break 1-2 down in India vs Uruguay
Going into the break 1-2 down, the home team may have felt that they still had something to offer to this India vs Uruguay clash. However, all their hopes were dashed in the 53rd minute in the second half, when Zalazar was given enough space by India right-back Abhishek Singh to take a curling shot far from Gurpreet Singh Sandhu’s reach.
The night was going to get worse for the Indians, with Araujo getting his brace six minutes later. Upon receiving a sweetly-timed through ball from Vinas and bypassing the Indian midfield, Araujo placed it wide of Sandhu on the left side. The veteran goalkeeper stood rooted to his spot and appeared to offer no defence whatsoever. Uruguay had scored four.
Uruguay offered no solace to India, and scored six goals
If coach Khalid Jamil had thought that La Celeste would have slowed down in India vs Uruguay, he was mistaken. In the 71st minute, Sanabria found himself on the receiving end of a brilliant counter-attack driven by former Manchester United midfielder Facundo Pellistri. Finding themselves terribly outnumbered, India’s defenders watched on as Sanabria tapped another past a hapless-looking Sandhu.
Soon afterwards, the India captain was replaced by Albino Gomes between the goalposts, but he offered no relief, conceding a world-class goal from Aguirre in the 86th minute. This time, goalscorer Thapa was the culprit for India by failing to close down the space, and giving Aguirre a lot of time to take a curler past the Goan’s outstretched arms.
The final whistle blew soon afterwards in India vs Uruguay, and apart from their impressive performance in the 1-1 draw with Panama, the home team know that they have little to be proud of in this international window. The 0-4 loss to Brazil and the 1-6 defeat in India vs Uruguay have shown India’s true colours when compared with elite, World Cup-playing opponents, proving that the road ahead is uphill.
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Cover image courtesy: AIFF
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