Ahead of a historic World Cup start, the Uzbekistan national team is testing its strength on the North American continent. As part of the preparation plan for the tournament, Fabio Cannavaro's squad played a friendly match against one of the hosts, Canada, in Edmonton. In an interesting and intense encounter, our representatives lost 0-2 to the hosts.
Currently, prestigious sports publications are closely examining the physical and tactical condition of future World Cup participants. In particular, the famous The World Inform publication released a list of Uzbek players who failed to perform at their potential in the Edmonton match and became targets of criticism.
Due to the significant gap in the FIFA rankings (Canada 30th, Uzbekistan 50th), the North American players held a major advantage throughout the game and secured a deserved victory. The hosts scored both goals in the second half, and our compatriots could not find a way to respond.
The performance of our players rated lowest by the publication was analyzed as follows:
Abduvohid Nematov – 3.0
Although the Canadian representatives clearly dominated in individual duels and feints, the number of shots on target was not that high. Nematov saved the team from certain goals twice, but still had to pick the ball out of his net twice.
Especially on the first goal, our goalkeeper should have closed the near post, but after a powerful shot, the ball deflected off him and went into the net. The second goal was accurately placed into the far corner. Furthermore, an offside goal by the opponent was also aimed at the near post, and Abduvohid failed to notice the infringement during the attack.
Odiljon Hamrobekov and Otabek Shukurov – 3.0
The central midfield, considered the most reliable point of our national team, did not perform as expected this time. Too much space was left for the opponent in the defensive third, which doubled the pressure and workload on our defenders.
Looking at the stats, Hamrobekov lost 8 out of 10 duels on the pitch. He also committed three fouls and was dribbled past three times. Shukurov lost 9 out of 11 duels — he committed two fouls, and opponents bypassed him with dribbling four times.
Eldor Shomurodov – 3.0
Despite Canada's overall dominance, our compatriots created several good chances to open the scoring in the first half alone. In such situations, the main responsibility should have fallen on the team's top scorer, Eldor Shomurodov.
Our experienced striker went one-on-one with opposing goalkeeper Maxime Crepeau twice:
In the first situation: Eldor took an inaccurate shot from an awkward position, and the ball went past the left post.
In the second situation: He aimed for the right corner, but the Canadian keeper showed skill and saved the ball.
Shomurodov headed a set-piece ball under the crossbar in the first half, but the opposing keeper saved it, and the referees ruled offside anyway. Although our striker played the full 90 minutes, he was barely visible in the second half.
Read “Zamin” on Telegram!A challenging match ahead: Defeat is not a tragedy, but a great opportunity to work on mistakes. Now, the national team led by Fabio Cannavaro will play its next serious friendly match against one of the world football giants — the Netherlands. We wish our representatives luck in the upcoming match!
