DOHA – A thunderbolt from captain Server Djeparov gave Uzbekistan a 2-1 win over Kuwait that took them to the brink of the Asian Cup last eight here on Wednesday and left Kuwait on the verge of elimination. Djeparov cracked home a first-time shot from 20 yards in the 65th minute to continue Uzbekistan’s 100 percent record in Group A after the 2-0 defeat of Qatar in their group opener.
Uzbekistan had taken the lead shortly before half-time when Azizbek Haydarov inadvertently diverted a Maksim Shatskikh free-kick past the Kuwait goalkeeper, with Bader Al Mutwa levelling from the penalty spot.
Victory means Uzbekistan need just a point from their final group game against China on Sunday to reach the quarter-finals, while they will go through if Qatar fail to beat China in Wednesday’s late game. Earlier, reigning champions Iraq were licking their wounds after going down 2-1 to great rivals Iran despite taking an early lead and having the better of the opening exchanges.
Iraq’s German coach Wolfgang Sidka did his best not to look too downbeat after the loss and attempted to suggest defeat by Iran was no different to losing any other match.
“The defeat is like losing against any other team and the most important thing is that we lost three points,” said Sidka, a former Werder Bremen midfielder.
Iraq’s star striker Younis Mahmoud struck in the 13th minute, when he slid in at the far post to score from close range after Emad Mohammed had cleverly nodded the ball back across goal. But Iran, the three-times winners who have not held the trophy since 1976, gradually warmed to the task at a half-full Al-Rayyan Stadium and were level on 42 minutes when Gholam Reza Rezai rifled in unchallenged.
The second period was not as entertaining, but just when it looked like the game was heading towards a draw, Iman Mobali’s free-kick crept in past a flat-footed Mohammed Kassid six minutes from time. Iran coach called it “a very special” victory.
“When these two teams play each other there’s so much rivalry and history, so it’s very difficult to get the players to concentrate and focus on football and it becomes a fighting game,” said Afshin Ghotbi.
“I was very happy my players were able to concentrate and could get this very special three points.”
LOW SCORING OPENERS: Defence was king in the opening round of matches at the Asian Cup, with the first eight games of the Qatar tournament yielding the lowest goals-per-game average since 1992.
A total of 19 goals were scored in the first round of group games at the 2011 tournament, an average of 2.375 goals per game.
The statistics compare unfavourably with the last tournament, in 2007, where an average of 2.75 goals were scored per game in the opening group games, while the average at the equivalent stage of the 1996 event was 3.3. At the current rate of scoring, the 2011 Asian Cup will finish with the lowest goals-per-game ratio since the 1992 tournament, won by hosts Japan, which was a notoriously stingy affair.
New Saudi coach confident over prospects: New Saudi Arabia coach Nasser Al-Johar turned to humour on Wednesday to mask the trouble the triple Asian champions find themselves in as he joked he was so relaxed he could handle the fortunes of three teams. The shock 2-1 defeat by Syria in their opening Group B match at the Asian Cup on Sunday cost Portuguese coach Jose Peseiro his job immediately after the game and the Saudis turned to ever-reliable Al-Johar for the third time in a decade.
Asked at a news conference before Thursday’s match against Jordan if he had been wearing dark glasses to hide his eyes after crying about the loss to Syria, he replied: “No, not at all, in fact, I am so relaxed I could coach three teams.” He was looking forward to reviving the team’s fortunes in the match at the Al-Rayyan Stadium. “I am no stranger to the players. I have taken over the team twice before in the past in worse situations and they know me very well,” he said. “I thought we played well in the first match, although we lost … I don’t feel any tension and I am not being diplomatic with my answer.”
