Thu, 28 Oct, 2021
Amman: The gulf in experience between Uzbekistan and Kuwait told in the opening match of Group A of the 2014 AFC Women’s Asian Cup qualifiers on Wednesday when Zebo Juraeva scored eight times as the Central Asians ran out 18-0 winners.
Juraeva needed just four minutes to open her account at the Amman International Stadium and after Feruza Turdiboeva had doubled the Uzbeks’ advantage just two minutes later Juraeva went onto to complete her hat-trick with goals in the 14th and 21st minutes.
Kamola Riskieva made it 5-0 in the 23rd minute and if the Kuwaitis were stunned by Uzbekistan’s barnstorming start to the Group A curtain raiser then worse was to follow just after the half-hour mark when Makhliyo Sarikova (31st), Makhfuza Turapova (34th and 36th) and Juraeva (35th) added another four in a blistering five-minute spell.
And the first-half scoring didn’t stop there with Turdiboeva taking the Uzbeks into double figures with her second, three minutes from the interval before Juraeva netted her fourth one minute into stoppage time to give her side a commanding 11-0 lead to take into the second half.
Juraeva scored her second hat-trick six minutes after the restart and made it 13-0 seven minutes later before Turapova bagged her treble in the 65th minute.
Substitute Mariya Moiseeva got her name on the scoresheet in the 70th minute as Fazilat Bakhromova entered the fray and made it 16-0 just 120 seconds after coming on to replace Turapova.
In the 73rd minute Juraeva scored her eighth of the match and five minutes later Tanzilya Zarbieva scored the 18th and final goal of the game as Kuwait suffered their worst defeat since going down 17-0 to Palestine in the UAE in February, 2010.
The winner of Group A will join fellow qualifiers Thailand and Myanmar, who topped Groups B and D respectively, defending champions Australia, Japan, China, Korea Republic and hosts Vietnam in the 2014 finals which will take place in Ho Chi Minh City from May 14 to 25 next year.