Uzbekistan defeats Bolivia 1-0 in friendly match
Uzbekistan defeated Bolivia 1-0 on Friday in a friendly match held at the Rey Abdullah Stadium in the city of Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, and secured their fourth victory in the last six matches.
The winning goal was scored by their captain Eldor Shomurodov in the 35th minute, although the Asian team came close to a more comfortable victory.
The Uzbekistan national team, led by their coach, Slovenian Srecko Katanec, started with a more attacking vision and tried to control the midfield.
Bolivia opted to search for imbalance through their veteran forward and captain Marcelo Martins, who recently terminated his contract with Paraguayan club Cerro Porteño.
The Uzbekistan team scored the only goal through their forward Shomurodov with a great counterattack that started in the midfield and a defense that quickly retreated but with disorder.
Amidst the rebounds, Shomurodov took advantage to score.
Uzbekistan secured their fourth victory in the last six matches in 2022: 2-0 against Thailand, 2-0 against Cameroon, 2-0 against Kazakhstan, and this year 1-0 against Bolivia.
They lost 2-1 to Costa Rica last year and drew 0-0 against Russia.
The Asian squad will play their next friendly match on Tuesday, the 28th of this month, also at the Yedah Stadium in Saudi Arabia, against Venezuela.
Bolivia, in their first match of this year under Argentine coach Gustavo Costa, is preparing for the South American qualifiers for the 2026 World Cup.
The Bolivians will also play a friendly match next Tuesday against the local team, Saudi Arabia, at the Rey Abdullah Stadium.
Carlos Lampe, 36 years old, became the goalkeeper with the most appearances in the Bolivian national team on Friday, with 52 matches, one more than former World Cup player Carlos Truco. AFP