Indonesia holds Uzbekistan 1-1 in World Cup qualifier

JAKARTA (JP): Poor finishing despite many scoring chances yesterday killed Indonesia's dream of advancing to the second round of the Asian zone World Cup qualifying tie.

After breaking away with a goal off a spot kick by skipper Sudirman in the 35th minute of the first half, Indonesia's hopes of taming the visitors for a slight chance to advance to the second round diminished when substitute Oleg Shatskikh of Uzbekistan scored the equalizer in the 76th minute.

The draw means Uzbekistan and Yemen lead the standings in round one with seven points each, followed by Indonesia with six points and Cambodia with one point.

Yesterday's match was Uzbekistan's third in the World Cup qualifying group.

Uzbekistan won its two other matches, beating Yemen 1-0 in Sanaa on May 16 and defeating Cambodia 6-0 on May 25.

Uzbekistan has three more matches to play at home in Tashkent. It will play Indonesia on June 20, Cambodia on June 29 and Yemen on July 13.

With the 1-1 draw, the former Soviet Union state leaves Indonesia no chance in the second round. Indonesia has two more matches to play, against Uzbekistan at Tashkent on June 20 and Yemen in Sanaa on June 29.

Indonesia began the qualifying round with a bang, beating Cambodia 8-0 at home on April 13. It then drew 0-0 with Yemen on April 20 and drew 1-1 away with Cambodia.

Throughout the 90-minute match yesterday, referee Kim Kwang- jong of South Korea flashed yellow cards at Uzbekistan and Indonesia for harsh play.

Two yellow cards went to Uzbekistan's Rustam Shaymardanov and goalkeeper Pavel Bugalo. The referee also handed out three yellow cards to Aples Tecuari, Rocky Putiray and Herman Pulalo of Indonesia.

Before about 30,000 local fans, Indonesia controlled play in the first half with a barrage of attacks against Uzbekistan. Indonesia had eight golden chances to score through Widodo, Rocky, Ronny Wabia and Ansyari Lubis. But their shots went far wide.

In the 35th minute, Widodo passed a long shot to Herman who was tackled by Uzbekistan goalkeeper Bugalo. The South Korean referee flashed a yellow card at Bugalo and Indonesia gained a penalty.

Sudirman took the spot and converted with a shot that beat Bugalo. The enthusiastic crowd greeted the goal by yelling Sudirman's name.

In the second half, Uzbekistan changed tactics. It swapped Ilhom Sharipov for Shatskikh and overpowered the Indonesian side with its attacks. In the 76th minute, Shatskikh put a long shot into the net past Indonesian goalkeeper Listianto.

In the remaining 14 minutes, the game lost its momentum with Uzbekistan slowing down the tempo of play with a strong defense.

Indonesia tried to up the tempo but failed to score in the second half. (lnt)

Teams

Indonesia: Listyanto Rahardjo, Agung Setiabudi, Herman Pulalo, Sudirman (captain), Aples Tecuari, Nuralim, Bima Sakti, Ansyari Lubis, Ronny Wabia, Widodo C. Putro, Rocky Putiray.

Uzbekistan: Pavel Bugalo, Rustam Shaymardon, Andrey Fyodorov, Bantiyor Qambaraliev, Fevzi Davletov, Numor Khazanov (captain), Ovber Usmankhodjaev, Nirolay Shirshov, Ravshan Bazarov, Abdikokhor Marifaliev, Sergey Lebedev.