Thu, 28 Oct, 2021
Beirut: Lebanon and Uzbekistan both picked up their first points of the final round qualifying campaign for the 2014 FIFA World Cup finals as Friday’s Group A encounter ended 1-1 at Sports City Stadium.
Jasur Hasanov’s early strike had put Uzbekistan, with new coach Mirjalol Kasimov in the dug-out having replaced Vadim Abramov earlier this week, on their way to bounce back from Sunday’s 1-0 defeat by Iran in Tashkent.
But with Ali Al Saadi equalising before half-time for Lebanon, who lost 1-0 at home to Qatar at the weekend, both sides were forced to settle for a point.
“We produced a good performance and we were close to winning but we were unsuccessful with the chances that we had, especially our strikers who didn't know how to score,” said Kasimov.
“Lebanon were good, especially in the second half, and they gave us a hard time especially in defence where they managed to clear all the chances that we had in the game.”
After Kasimov returned for a second spell in charge of the Uzbekistan national team in the wake of the heartbreaking last-gasp defeat by Iran, the visitors made the ideal start after just 12 minutes as Hasanov found space inside the Lebanon penalty area, and after being allowed time to compose himself, the midfielder drilled the ball into the bottom corner giving goalkeeper Ziad El Samad no chance.
The lead, though, lasted only until 11 minutes before the break as Al Saadi’s well-struck free-kick flew past the edge of the assembled Uzbekistan wall and found the bottom corner.
Uzbekistan almost found an instant response as Alexander Geynrikh first hit the post from close range just three minutes later before the Pakhtakor striker clearly used his hand to turn the ball into the back of the net just before half-time and was cautioned for his troubles.
The visitors edged a tight start to the second half with Geynrikh playing a central role for Uzbekistan, but neither side was able to find a second during a tight second 45 minutes.
“We played well. It is a shame that we were the better side in the first match against Qatar and tonight, and yet we failed to win. We showed a good performance in the two matches, but we were not lucky,” said Lebanon coach Theo Bucker.
“I'm really disappointed with the performance of some players, especially the foreign-based players as their performance has dropped a lot in the recent matches.
“Al Saadi’s goal was a saviour for us."