Cricket lovers often say that a positive aspect of the global cricket fraternity (small as it is) is that it brings Australia closer to countries that ordinarily it may not have a lot to do with, such as Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Zimbabwe and the Caribbean.
Clearly this applies even more so to football, not just across the world, but within the Asian Confederation itself – to which we now belong as its newest member.
During the Asian Cup qualifiers we played against Bahrain, and in our very first game of the Asian Cup last year, we played against another gulf nation, Oman.
With a little bit of luck either way, we could well have met Uzbekistan in the semi-final.
Come again … Uzbekistan?
Seeing that on September 10 the Socceroos will find themselves in Tashkent, the capital of Uzbekistan, for its first game in the next phase of the Asian qualifiers for the 2010 World Cup, I thought I would assist readers in learning something about our newest of sporting rivals.
Uzbekistan is one of half a dozen or so countries in central Asia that once belonged to the Soviet Union; so it is a relatively newish country in modern political terms. It borders Kazakhstan to the west and to the north, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan to the east, and Afghanistan and Turkmenistan to the south.
The interesting aspect about Uzbekistan is that, despite the fact that few Australians know much about it, Uzbekistan has much in common with Australia on so many levels.
AFC membership
Uzbekistan has been in the AFC since around 1994, and as such it is a relative new comer.
Having had very close links with Russia for well over a century, and being on the north-western periphery of the region, in at least one sense, Uzbekistan shares with Australia that tiny lingering doubt that perhaps it does not quite fit in, or even worse, is unwelcome.
Given that both countries add enormously to what already is the most spread out and varied Confederation of all, one hopes that both these perceptions (understandable or otherwise) will soon die a natural death.
Football/Asian Cup performance
In the World football rankings, Australia is currently 38 while Uzbekistan is 55.
My guess is that both countries are going to be battling for similar spots up the table for a long time to come (hopefully higher up than where they both are now!)
In watching Uzbekistan play its opening game in the Asian Cup, against Iran, I was first struck by how “European” the team looked.
As mentioned above, Uzbekistan was part of the Soviet Union, and to this day retains close links to Russia and Eastern Europe (where most of its players earn their living).
Uzbekistan’s style of play can also be described as East European, combining intelligent tactical play and positioning with a robust physical presence.
Interestingly, its captain, Maksim Shatskikh, who plays for Dynamo Kiev, is a behemoth centre forward who dominates the opposition third. Strong in the air, but also quite adept with the ball at his feet, he is not only a goal scorer, he is quite capable of bringing team mates into the game and setting up goals.
Does that remind you of anyone?
Alas, the footballing similarities with Uzbekistan end right there.
I believe they were far more consistent than Australia during the Asian Cup and were extremely unlucky not to progress to the semi finals.
They lost 2-1 to Saudi Arabia in the quarter final, after hitting the woodwork five times during the game and being the subject of the worst off-side call I have seen in a long time.
Shatskikh scored from close range when the keeper spilled the ball. Replays show clearly that he was at least three metres onside when his team mate had the first strike on goal, and that there were three defenders in front of him!
The Uzbekistan vs Saudi quarter-final was perhaps the game of the tournament. Uzbekistan’s attacking game was a joy to watch.
They dominated the first half in their opening game against Iran, leading 1-0 at half time, but they clearly suffered in the conditions the longer the game went, and Iran was able to score twice in the second half to take the points.
Uzbekistan then smashed Malaysia 5-0, before defeating China 3-0, a game they had to win to proceed.
Two Uzbeki plays of the day
There were two particularly interesting Uzbeki attacking moves in the first half of the quarter-final loss to Saudi Arabia.
1. This play started around the top of the D when Saudi Arabia was already one goal up, and the Uzbekis were facing a packed Saudi defence. From the top of the D, a rapid succession of short passes to the right found Shatskikh further inside the box at a bit of an angle. He was quickly closed down. But rather than strike it, he found yet another team mate immediately to his right who stung the Saudi keeper with a great strike. The pleasing aspect of this play was that, faced with so many defenders, the Uzbekis still manufactured a decent shot on goal.
2. One of the most exciting moves of that first half was towards the end of it when Shatskikh had the ball at one end of the Saudi box. Almost instinctively, he lobbed it over the defence to the other side of the box where, seemingly from nowhere, the left back, Denisov, thundered in, met it at pace, hit it sweetly on the half-volley, and kept the ball one metre above the ground and as it flashed past the far post.
If it had gone in, it would have been the goal of the tournament.
Once again it showed a great understanding between team mates, and Shatskikh’s capacity to bring others into the game.
I can assure you all, there’s a potential rivalry here just waiting to be sparked!
The Bear
Roar Pro
Pip, thanks for the perspective. Yes, we have (eerily) a lot of similarities. It's exciting to come up against a team that may not fall over soo much and actually play some euro flavoured football (not that it's better, it's just a novelty these days). Graciously, The Bear
jimbo
Guest
Pip. it could be the elimination game against Japan, if the Uzbeks do as well as expected. The loser might finish third and have to play off to face the Oceania champ.
Pippinu
Roar Guru
Australia vs Japan in a WCQ decider? Perish the thought! It would be massive, both here and Japan (and have huge interest in large parts of Asia).
jimbo
Guest
For those of you following the Northern Tigers in the NSW Super League - they beat Fairfield on the weekend but still finished 6th and missed out on the top 5 finals. They really had to beat Rockdale the previous week at Mills Park, but only managed a draw. So they needed Rockdale to draw or lose this week to make the top 5. Rockdale won their last game to stay 5th and kept the Tigers out of the finals. A good effort to come from the relegation zone but disappointing to miss out on the finals.
Midfielder
Guest
Pippinu My bracket was for Adrian Leijer if he is picked .......... IMO a much better player the Milligan very good on the ball and a cool head. On Kool I like him better as a left mid in that position he is one of the worlds best. Playing in a CM position behind the strikers he is not in the top group. His is good but I would perfer Bresciano for that role. When Cahil & Nicky C, are aviable and Burns, Holland, Bridge, Jedi plua a number of others .......... we are starting to build some strength. But playing in Asia is so hard and the Japan game WOW ........ I read somewhere that if the Australia / Japan game is a WCQ decider between the them it could break all TV viewing audiences in Asia.
Joe FC
Guest
Pippinu very good article. I must admit I was one who thought we got the easier group but now I'm not so sure. I think it would be foolish to write off any of the other teams. Qualification is far from certain, it will require a lot of hard work.
Pippinu
Roar Guru
Towser I definitely think he has looked better in recent outings than any stage in his career. Against South Africa, his touch was bloody good - that goal was a classy finish, and he almost repeated it when he was caught offside a bit later - if he's in the zone right now - he should be in!
Towser
Guest
Pippinu Re Sterjovski Am I imagining it or has Mile developed into one of the better more important players for Australia over recent matches he's played. I noticed you state in brackets(for him). I felt the same way, but I feel he is becoming more a vital cog say like Vinnie & Bresciano etc.
Pippinu
Roar Guru
Midfielder not a bad team - especially now that we know Kool is close to being match fit (whether he is fully match fit is another question again) Sterj had such a good game (for him) against Sth Africa so I wouldn't be surprised if he retains his spot. This may further depend on whether Pim goes a little bit more conservative being such an important away game - and let's all be honest, Pim's middle name is conservative. So...I'm thinking we are looking more at a 4-2-3-1, with maybe Sterj in ahead of Macca, along the following lines: .............................Schwatter Emo.................Neill............Spira............Chippers .................Grella............Culina ....Sterjovski............Kool.................Bresh ..........................2m Jesus I think you're right that Chippers will retain his spot, Emo comes in for Luke and Spira for Coyne. Bresh often plays left, allowing Kool to come in for Macca - but that could be reversed if it was deemed that Harry wasn't going to last 90 minutes and/or it was felt he was better value at the tail end of the game. Against South Africa, Culina played deep, extremely deep, so I see him staying there in this fixture.
Towser
Guest
True Tah To quote the late great Graham Kennedy "Its a joke Joyce"
Midfielder
Guest
This will be a very hard game ........... my run on side is...... ...................Mark SCHWARZER. ..........Brett EMERTON ........Lucas NEILL ........Matthew SPIRANOVIC .......Scott CHIPPERFIELD .......Jason CULINA ........Vincenzo GRELLA .........Mark BRESCIANO .........Harry KEWELL ....................Scott McDONALD .............Josh KENNEDY Bench assume six allowed ........goals ...Ante COVIC; backs Michael BEAUCHAMP .......Adrian Leijer (if picked)........ mids ....Mile STERJOVSKI...Richard GARCIA... strikers Bruce DJITE,
Pippinu
Roar Guru
True Tah I would hope that the Zimbabwe situation is a temporary one - but yes, good observation. I still think it remains a valid point about cricket generally speaking (and I say this as only an occasional cricket fan).
True Tah
Guest
Pippinu, I don't think Australia has too much to do with Zimbabwe anymore. Towser, dont agree that being a follower of world futbol necessarily gives you a better understanding of world geography, I wouldn't know who won the Kazakhstan or Tajikstan Premier League, but I would back my geogrpahic knowledge anytime against anybody!
Towser
Guest
http://www.the-afc.com/eng/articles/viewArticle.jsp_167969064.html One thing about playing in Asia is it gives Les Murray more chance to work on his pronunciation & also allows him to castigate his Santas helpers if they dont sound like a native of whichever country the footballer their talking about comes from. As for the rest of the Australian sports journalists most cant pronounce Deli without stuttering. Just joking everybody I,m sure we've progressed since Won Casey(Normie Rowes bosom buddy) was introducing the Santos match in 1972 & talking about Pele(yes he got that right). However he was mentioning that Pele surpassed other greats of the time such as Puskas. Unfortunately Won had difficulty with the Hungarian maestros name & called him on air Puke-us(said as one word). One thing following World football gives you is a broader geographical knowledge. Whoever Stan was he was busy in that part of the earth. Must admit though that the Uzbeks impressed in the Asian Cup also. In the past we have struggled against Physically strong but technically superior opponents. Games against the Old Czecheslovakia come to mind. We have closed the gap in this respect, so this match to me will be a real test of where were at ,compared to the physical but lacking in technique tactical nous Socceroos of the past. Just another reminder yesterday of the different football universe being in Asia has thrown us into & how much we will have to constantly keep lifting our game to compete. From the article above. "UAE club Al Ain have signed Chile international midfielder Jorge Luis Valdivia who is nicknamed ‘El Mago’ (the Magician). The nine-time UAE champions paid 17 million euros to sign Valdivia on a four-year contract from Brazilian side Palmeiras, having already set a domestic record after shelling out 10 million UAE dirhams to prise Saif Mohammad away from Al Shaab."
Pippinu
Roar Guru
Thanks Jimbo - good call on that 3-0 result - mind you, we have first had experience on Oman! Not to mention that we don't really know what kind of team faced them, e.g. did the manager call up his big guns from Russia and the Ukraine? I reckon that 9 of the starting XI that played against SA will start in a very similar formation.
Liam Pender
Roar Rookie
i honestly believe we have the tougher two opponents in the Uzbeks and the japs, however oman and qatar are not really in the same league, we should easily get into the top 3.
jimbo
Guest
Pip, good post. The last couple of games must have been a bit of foxing from both coaches. Uzbeks were terrible and lost 3 nil to Oman - O My. Socceroos tinkered and played some crap football against the Boofanas. The real and best teams will be on the park in Tashkent come Sept 10 and this will be the most pressure any Socceroos team has ever faced in an away game. No surprise if the Uzbeks win, which might be what is needed to lift the team for the rest of the tournament. Really looking forward to the game.
Pippinu
Roar Guru
dasilva Interesting point about having the tougher group - at a minimum it's definitely no easier than the other group, and yet many have suggested that we should be happy with the group we ended up in (because somehow it's the easier group). I haven't been able to see it that way myself.
dasilva
Guest
I agree with you. Uzbekistan were the most entertaining side to watch in the entire Asia Cup and it was sad when they lost (robbed) to Saudi Arabia. Really referee (poor offside ruling out goal) and bad finishing prevented them from reaching semi-final and beyond. SOmethings tells me that if the referee gave the Uzbeks the goal, they will be the one celebrating Asia Cup and not iraq. In any case that's just speculation. I predict Australia and Uzbeks to go through with Japan fighting it off in third place. I watch their highlights of their demolition of Singapore 8-9 goal margin. A fool strength Australian team defeated them 2-0 and had troubled creating chances while Uzbeks just destroyed them. I honestly believe that we got the tougher group then what the South Koreans have.