Key events
36 min: Chance for Uzbekistan! Souttar’s ball is cut out near the halfway line, and suddenly Uzbekistan have a five-on-two attack. Mercifully for Australia, the lunging Souttar gets a vital touch on Ashurmatov’s pass which diverts the ball through to Ryan. Sheesh, Australia dodged one there.
34 min The score is 0-0: shots on target, goals, whatever you like. It hasn’t been great I’m afraid.
31 min Bos slaloms elegantly into the area from the left before Erkinov steps across to make a fine tackle.
30 min Adirahmatov’s cross is met by Fayzullaev, whose header 12 yards is stopped at source by Souttar. We’ve seen thousands of block-tackles throughout football history but that might be the first block-header.
30 min It’s been a stop-start half, with lots of fouls in the middle of the field. Australia still don’t look right going forward.
27 min After a VAR check, the yellow card is upheld. Eshmurodov may have got away with one there.
McGree curls the free-kick over the bar from 25 yards.
25 min Eshmurodov is booked for a cynical foul on Doyle. The Australian players want a red card, because Doyle was running onto a through pass and Eshmurodov was the lsat man. The presence of a covering defender just about saved him, but you can certainly make a case for it being a clear goalscoring opportunity.
21 min Fayzullayev runs behind the defence onto a long ball over the top, cuts inside and hits a stinging left-footed shot that is well blocked by Rowles. The Socceroos aren’t having things their own way at all.
21 min It’s still goalless in the other game between Syria and India. This is the state of play in Group B as things stand:
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Australia 7pts
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Uzbekistan 5
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Syria 2
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India 1
19 min A good cross from Sayfiyev is headed away by Rowles, I think. Uzbekistan are playing the more penetrative stuff, even if Australia are having more of the ball.
15 min The right-back Abdirahmatov plays a nice return pass to the underlapping Erkinov, whose cutback is intercepted by Rowles at the near post. Good positioning.
13 min Uzbekistan’s 5-4-1 formation looks negative, but they’re switching to a genuine 3-4-3 when they have the ball. They’ve played some decent stuff in what has been an even start to the game.
11 min: Yengi has a goal disallowed! It was a simple header into an open net from a couple of yards, but Boyle was offside in the build up. Though Boyle didn’t touch the ball, he tried to head Bos’s deflected cross and thus became active.
9 min Souttar gives the ball straight to Urunov in a dangerous area, but he recovers to make an important if slightly ungainly challenge in the penalty box. That was a decent opening for Urunov, who wasn’t as decisive as he might have been.
Souttar has such fond memories of that last ditch sliding challenge against Tunisia at the Al Janoub that he straight up gave the ball to the Uzbeks so he could do it again. #AUSvYZB
— Joseph Lynch (@joeylynchy) January 23, 2024
8 min Australia’s first good attack. McGree (I think) releases Doyle, who stands up a nice first-time cross that just evades Yengi on the six-yard line.
7 min Urunov makes a terrific run down the left, covering about 70 yards before running into a brick wall named Harold James Souttar.
4 min Sayfiyev is down in the centre circle holding his face. He was caught by a flailing arm from his teammate Ashurmatov.
2 min Uzbekistan are playing 5-4-1 formation without the ball. A draw would guarantee a place in the last 16, though they should qualify whatever happens today. It’s extremely rare that a team with four points doesn’t go through as one of the four best third-placed teams.
1 min Peep peep! The Socceroos kick off from left to right as we watch.
Uzbekistan are coached by Srecko Katanec, which is a good excuse to link to a piece from the archive that was all kinds of fun to do. The joy of that Sampdoria team was embodied by the wonderful Gianluca Vialli.
“G’day Rob,” writes Chris Paraskevas, which is all well and good but what we really want to know i- “Before you ask: no, I didn’t argue with any neighbours today. It’s such a shame that Mitch ‘The Duke’ Duke has a dodgy hammy. I had a whole bunch of Escape From New York puns and YouTube links planned for Australia’s deep(ly prosaic, formulaic and pseudo-catennacio) run to the final.
“Big game for Kye Rowles: at the World Cup he had some nervy moments and Souttar carried him at times. But I thought he was quietly impressive in the opening game against India, often covering for Souttar’s lack of mobility and passing the ball intelligently.
“I’d also like to see Jordy Bos operating out of left back instead of in a front three: it’s a slightly negative move and perhaps a dress rehearsal for a fixture against Japan? He never quite looks comfortable starting that high up the pitch. Might pay off in time, though…”
Yes, our man Joey Lynch has been saying this for a while too. He looks a more natural left-back to me, somebody who is more dangerous when he has space to surge into. I’m sure that’s where he’ll end up, though maybe not in this tournament. That said, he should be more dangerous as a wide forward in the knockout rounds against teams who don’t defend so deep.
Australia’s defence could smash a few records this evening. They haven’t conceded in over nine hours of football – and that excludes added time, which we really need to do something about. Can we not knock measure it?
This means that in #AUSvUZB, AUS will set new records of no goals conceded:
– in A internationals (609+ mins) if UZB doesn’t score before 36′
– in ALL internationals (652+ mins) if UZB doesn’t score before 79′
– in complete games (7 consecutive games) if UZB doesn’t score at all— andrew howe (@AndyHowe_statto) January 23, 2024
A reminder of tonight’s teams. Just over 10 minutes to kick off now.
Team news: Yengi starts
The injured Mitch Duke is replaced up front by Kusini Yengi, not Bruno Fornaroli. Nathaniel Atkinson, Keanu Baccus, Kye Rowles and Riley McGree also come into the side in place of Gethin Jones, Aiden O’Neill, Cameron Burgess and Connor Metcalfe.
Uzbekistan make four changes from their 3-0 win over India. Rustan Ashurmatov, Abdulla Abdullayev, Khojimat Erkinov and Zafarmurod Abdirahmatov replace Abdukodir Khusanov, Sherzod Nasrullayev, Jaloddin Masharipov and Igor Sergeyev. That could mean a switch to a back five.
Australia (4-1-2-3) Ryan; Atkinson, Souttar, Rowles, Behich; Baccus; McGree, Irvine; Boyle, Yengi, Bos.
Substitutes: Deng, Silvera, Metcalfe, Fornaroli, Tilio, Thomas, O’Neill, Miller, Burgess, Goodwin, Yazbek, Iredale.
Uzbekistan (possible 5-4-1) Yusupov; Abdirahmatov, Eshmurodov, Ashurmatov, Abdullayev, Sayfiyev; Erkinov, Shukurov, Hamrobekov, Urunov; Fayzullayev.
Substitutes: Hamraliev, Holmatov, Iskanderov, Masharipov, Nematov, Boltaboyev, Ergashev, Abdiholiqov, Turgunboyev, Sergeyev, Umarov, Amonov.
Tonight’s game is at the Al Janoub Stadium in Al Wakrah, a place with some of the happiest possible memories for this generation of players and fans.
Graham Arnold’s pre-match thoughts
I can be honest and say Mitchell Duke is out with a hamstring (injury), it’ll be one game at a time for him. He had a bit of a scan and he’s got a small strain, so he’ll be out. So, it’s an opportunity for me to have a look at other players as well against good opposition, a great test. At the end of the day, winning is the most important thing and obviously we can do better in that department.
There’ll be a few changes, but I don’t think there’s much difference in the depth of our squad now, I think that if you make changes, the team will still be strong. I think the most important thing is sometimes the individual quality of backing ourselves.
We’re going out there to win the game and obviously Uzbekistan are coming along a lot as a country, they invest a lot of money in football, and they’re a good side, and we’ll be ready for them on Tuesday. It’s up to us to get out there with our mindset, our work rate and our commitment and culture that we’ve got and do a great job for all of us.
Our goal right from the start was to top the group and with high expectations, if you don’t reach for the stars, well, then you’ll never achieve anything in life. It’s a great tournament, I’m really excited about it and I’m very proud of the boys first two wins, but it’s one game at a time and making sure that we get this one right.
Preamble
Hello and welcome to live, minute-by-minuteish coverage of Australia v Uzbekistan in Al Wakrah. It’s the Socceroos’ final group game before the serious business begins. On paper they’ve made a solid start to the Asian Cup, beating India 2-0 and Syria 1-0. On the pitch it hasn’t been quite so persuasive, particularly during two laboured first-half performances, so they could do with a statement performance tonight.
Uzbekistan, who will be in the last 16 barring an unforeseeable turn of events, are the toughest opponents so far. They took Australia to a penalty competition four years ago before Maty Ryan did the necessary. The Socceroos have never lost or even conceded a goal to Uzbekistan; if that continues tonight they will top Group B.
That would theoretically give them an easier route in the knockout stages, though the situation has been complicated by Japan’s defeat to Iraq. The full permutations are frankly far too boring to detail at this stage, so let’s stick to the facts.
If Australia draw or win today, their last 16 will be against a third-placed team from groups A, C or D: one of China, Palestine, Hong Kong, United Arab Emirates, Indonesia or – yikes – Japan.
If Australia lose today they will meet the runners up in Group F: probably Thailand, possibly Saudi Arabia or Oman.
That’s all to come. First, to business.
Kick off 2.30pm local/10.30pm AEDT.
