Uzbekistan: first big hurdle awaits Iran

PFDC – TASHKENT, Uzbekistan might not be the most prestigeous Asian football side, however, the central Asians have slowly but constantly emerged to a keyplayer of the continent in recent years and certainly will be the biggest test Iran faced under the reigns of Carlos Queiroz so far.

Currently ranked as sixth Asian team according to FIFA rankings, they are only slightly behind fourth placed Iran. Looking at Uzbekistan’s most recent campaigns, one will quickly understand why the ranking is justified.

Form curve on the rise

Although Uzbekistan have never qualified for a World Cup, they came very close in 2006, when they finally lost to Bahrain on away goals under very suspicious circumstances. After a disappointing 2010 campaign with a last place finish in the final round, they now impressed crowds and experts with a stunning third round qualification campaign.

Placed in a tough group with Japan, North Korea and minnows Tajikistan, the Uzbeks, helmed by Vadim Abramov, topped the standings, remained undefeated, won five out of six matches while scoring eight goals and only conceding one – the best record of all 25 teams participating.

Also the Asian Cup form curve is improving – after quarterfinal exits in 2004 and 2007, they managed to reach the semifinals in 2011, however, had a complete off day there  and were thrashed 0-6 by Australia, before narrowly losing 2-3 to South Korea in the playoff for third spot.

Russia, Ukraine, Persian Gulf  & Bunyodkor

The reason for these good results is a tactically disciplined and physically strong team packed with players from foreign leagues and Bunyodkor Tashkent – the countries richest and strongest club.

Though the names of the country’s star players are not familiar to everyone, they have some of Asia’s finest players in their squad.

Bunyodkor goalkeeper Ignatiy Nesterov is the solid backbone of the team, usually having several legionnaires from China, Qatar and even Ukraine ahead of him. An interesting player here is 25-year-old leftback Vitaly Denisov, who is a regular from Ukrainian outfits Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk.

The midfield is packed with legionnaires from the UAE and Russia, where 24-year-old defensive midfielder Odil Ahmedov from Russian top team Anzhi Makhachkala is certainly the player to watch – at least many scouts from European top clubs are regulary doing so according to reports. He has quality players like Server Djeparov, who currently plays for Saudi Arabian club Al Shabab, or UAE based veteran midfielder and skipper Timur Kapadze on his side.

Upfront, the “Uzbek Shevchenko” – experienced striker Maxim Shatskikh – and Aleksandr Geynrikh build one of Asia’s most dangerous attacking duos.

The meanwhile 33-year-old targetman Shatskikh, who scored 97 goals in 205 games for Dynamo Kiev during his 11 years there and now plays his football for Arsenal Kiev, is doubtful for the clash with Iran due to an injury.

But the often slighty deeper playing Geynrikh, who after spells in Russia and South Korea now plays his football in the UAE, can also be paired with veteran forward Ulugbek Bakaev or Azerbaijan based Bahodir Nasimov.

Besides the many legionnaires, several good players from the domestic leagues are available. Many of those are from Bunyodkor Tashkent, a clubs financed by rich investors which made headlines by having Luiz Felipe Scolari and Rivaldo under contract a couple of years ago and regularily have an impact on the Asian Champions League.

Suspension woes

However, two times winner of the meanwhile not too prestigeous AFC Player of the Year award Server Djeparov and four other players – Russian based midfield duo Sanjar Tursunov and Vagiz Galiulin as well as Qatar based defender Shavkat Mullajonov and young defensive player Islom Tokhtkodjaev – are ruled out for the clash with Iran due to a foolish mistake.

The five players had deliberately picked up yellow cards against Tajikistan in the previous round in order to serve a suspension in their meaningless last third round qualifier in Tokyo, however, were handed an additional match ban by the AFC for that unsportsmanship conduct.

But even without those and a couple of other rested players, Uzbekistan came back home with a slightly lucky but nevertheless impressive 1-0 victory over Japan.

Iran and Uzbekistan last met in Tashkent for a friendly match in 2009 which ended in a goalless stalemate, by the way. Two years before, Iran came back after an early owngoal to win 2-1 in Asian Cup group stage whereas an Iranian 4-0 victory in a friendly in in Bangkok already dates back to 1998.