Uruguay beat India 6-1 in an international friendly at Kolkata’s Salt Lake Stadium on Tuesday. Anirudh Thapa cancelled out Darwin Núñez’s early penalty, but Maximiliano Araújo scored twice and four second-half goals ended the contest after a lightning stoppage of more than half an hour.
Kolkata, India: For twenty minutes, India gave Salt Lake Stadium something to believe in. By the end, the scoreboard told a harsher story: a six-goal defeat that closed India’s October window against elite South American opposition, three days after the meeting with Brazil at the same ground.
Núñez strikes, Thapa answers
Uruguay went ahead early through a penalty converted by Darwin Núñez. India did not wilt. Ryan Williams’ shot was parried and Anirudh Thapa pounced on the rebound to level the match inside the first 25 minutes, one of the biggest moments of the evening for the home crowd.
The equaliser did not last. Maximiliano Araújo restored Uruguay’s lead in the 28th minute, and the visitors never relinquished control again.
Lightning stops play, Uruguay take over
A lightning stoppage of more than half an hour broke the rhythm of the match, and match reports said it derailed India’s promising start. Uruguay came back sharper. Rodrigo Zalazar made it 3-1 in the 53rd minute, Araújo added his second in the 59th, and Juan Sanabria struck in the 71st. Rodrigo Aguirre completed the scoring in the 86th.
Five different players scored for Uruguay, with Núñez, Zalazar, Sanabria and Aguirre joining Araújo on the scoresheet. Thapa’s finish remained the only time India beat the Uruguay goalkeeper.
India’s goalkeeper Gurpreet Singh Sandhu kept the damage from growing, with match reports crediting him with several important saves, including a block with his face to deny Núñez. Substitute Mohammed Sanan also forced a save around the 70th minute, one of the few moments of danger India created after the break.
A window that ends in defeat
The result capped a difficult international window for head coach Khalid Jamil. India drew 1-1 with Panama and lost to Brazil in Kolkata, in a historic first meeting with the five-time world champions, before this heavy defeat to another South American heavyweight at the same ground.
There were positives to take from the opening spell, when India matched Uruguay in intensity and found a goal from open play. The second half underlined the gap in depth and sharpness that Indian football continues to work to close.
Result: Uruguay 6 (Núñez pen., Araújo 28′, 59′, Zalazar 53′, Sanabria 71′, Aguirre 86′) India 1 (Thapa) — international friendly, Salt Lake Stadium, Kolkata.
