Uzbekistan is going to take on Australia in world cup qualifying match tomorrow at the Uzbek Capital Tashkent. This is a very important match for both of the sides. Both of the teams will want to win the match because a win will make their position solid in the group. In their earlier matches, Australia defeated another opponent and Uzbekistan lost to them. Recently, Australia defeated Netherlands in Netherlands. You know that Netherlands is the fourth ranked football team in the world now. So, it was an impressive win for Australia to defeat Netherlands in Netherlands. On the other hand, Uzbekistan recently suffered a humiliating defeat to Qatar by 3-0 at Qatar.
So, considering the recent performances Australia look to be the hot favorite in the match. The country is earning a lot of revenue from oil and gas and the government is focusing on spending lavishly for building the infrastructure and other facilities for football. In fact, recently there was a rumor that one of the top players of Barcelona, Samuel Eto'o, might join an Uzbek club. However, it did not come true, but later we saw that Barcelona went to Uzbekistan and built a partnership with a local club. This shows that the country has good potential for football.
In tomorrow’s match, the main strength of Australia would be Europe-based players like Harry Kewell. Football is not the most popular game in Australia. In fact, Australians do not even call it football; they call it soccer. However, a number of Australian players play in European leagues and some of them are considered to be good player in English premier league. So, Australia has a world class team. On the other hand, Uzbekistan is composed mainly young player. The age of most of the players from 24-29 and they are young and spirited. The only thing they lacked is perhaps the experience.
One thing that team Australia should be worried about is climate. Right now, it is winter time in Australia, but the condition will be hot and humid in Tashkent. There is a forecast that the temperature might reach 30 degree centigrade and it is not an enjoyable condition for playing football. In fact, Uzbekistan is not only hot but humidity may also high and it may cause a lot of problem for the Australian players. Also, you have to remember that Uzbek players are very strong in their home and they can challenge any team in their own soil.
The good thing is that Australian players are not taking the match lightly. Their coach has already cautioned against it. Harry Kewell has also said not to be complacent about the match. One thing that can give some good confidence to Harry Kewell and his teammates is that Uzbekistan plays in a similar formation like the Dutch. So, it will give them an extra advantage to face opposition with similar strategy.
I am expecting a full-house crowd for the match. Football is the most popular sports in Uzbekistan. On the other hand, the match will kick of at 1:30 am in Australian time. So, I do not think that too many people will bother to watch the match in Australia at way past midnight. After this match, Australian players will have five-week break. Then they will play against Qatar in Australia next month. However, for many players playing in European league, there will be no break. They will have to be totally busy with European league. Of course, I do not think that it is a bad thing because they will not have any problem with match practice. The only problem may happen for these players is that they are going to play in Europe, and in Asian and in Australian condition in very short time. Well, today’s footballers are real professional and they have this kind of habit and they have to do this kind of things on a regular basis. So, I do not think that it will be that big of a problem for the players.
You can watch the match live in Fox Sports 3 and Star Sports depending on your location. You can get live score of the match in Live Score website too.
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