Tue, 30 Nov, -0001
Hanoi: Vokhid Shodiev marked his debut for Uzbekistan with a goal as the central Asian side boosted their hopes of qualifying for the AFC Asian Cup for a sixth consecutive time with a 3-0 away win over Vietnam on Friday.
The Bukhara striker broke the deadlock for the visitors at the My Dinh Stadium when he capitalised on a defensive error five minutes before half-time.
Igor Sergeev and substitute Sardor Rashidov then struck after the interval to secure the victory for the 2011 Asian Cup semi-finalists which kept them in second place in Group E with seven points.
“We played well for the whole game, especially our strikers and we made use of our chances to score,” said a delighted Uzbekistan coach Mirdjalal Kasimov.
“Vietnam played better here than in our last game in Uzbekistan because of the good support of their fans. They were good but we were better and we deserved to win the game.”
Handed his first start for his country at the age of 27, Shodiev made his international debut along with right-back Davron Khashimov as the Uzbeks looked to build on last month’s 3-1 win over Vietnam in Tashkent.
The visitors exerted much of the early pressure with Sergeev testing goalkeeper Bui Tan Truong with an early shot from the left while Fozil Musaev had an attempt blocked by a defender.
Vietnam were on the back foot for much of the opening half but an error by Anzur Ismailov on the half-hour mark presented an opening to Pham Thanh Luong only for Odil Ahmedov to snuff out the danger as the Vietnamese player bore down on goal.
Shodiev had an effort disallowed for offside in the 34th minute but he made the breakthrough six minutes later, tucking the ball into the net after goalkeeper Truong had failed to control a back pass from a defender.
Uzbekistan then extended their advantage in the opening minute of the second half as Vitaliy Denisov’s cross from the left was headed home by Sergeev.
The home side offered little real threat with Nguyen Trong Hoang sending a long-distance shot wide while Le Tan Tai had an opportunity blocked by the Uzbek defence.
Rashidov duly made it 3-0 in the 89th minute when he gathered in a pass on the left of the box from fellow substitute Islom Tukhtakhudjaev and fired home to seal an emphatic victory for his side.
The defeat was the fourth in a row for Vietnam in Group E and they ended their disappointing evening with 10 players as Tai was sent off in stoppage time for a bad challenge on Ismailov.
The loss all but ended Vietnam’s slender hopes of qualifying for Australia but coach Nguyen Van Sy promised that his side would not be throwing in the towel in their final two qualifiers.
“This was a very difficult game for us which I knew from the beginning,” he said. “We started quite well but the first goal badly affected the mentality of our players.
“I'm sad because our players could not keep their concentration until the end of the game, so we have to accept a really bad result. But I will tell them to continue to play their best in the last two games because these are not friendly games.”
Photo: AFP