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Sports
12/07/2007
Alikulov absence hurt us - Inileyev
Uzbekistan coach Rauf Inileyev admitted that the absence of veteran central defender Asror Alikulov hurt his side as they slumped to a 2-1 defeat to Iran in their opening match of the AFC Asian Cup on Wednesday.
The Uzbeks took the lead in the first half through a Rahman Rezaei own goal, but second half strikes by Seyed Jalal Hosseini and Javad Kazemian helped Group C favourites Iran claim all three points.
Alikulov is out for the tournament after suffering a head injury during the team’s pre-tournament training camp and Inileyev felt that the presence of the experienced 28-year-old was sorely missed.
"The absence of Alikulov was a big problem for our defence today," the Uzbek coach said.
"We made some crucial mistakes in central defence that might not have happened if we had him playing today and he may have resolved some of the problems that we had at the back if he had been playing."
However, Inileyev was keen to point out that the result could have been very different if Timur Kapadze had not missed a glorious opportunity for the Uzbeks just minutes before Kazemian’s winner.
"Of course, the first match is always difficult for any team, particularly against a strong opponent like Iran," added Inileyev.
"But we had good chances to score more goals during the match today and Timur Kapadze had a very good opportunity when the score was still tied, but he missed.
"If he had scored, the result might have turned out very differently today."
With matches still to come against co-host Malaysia and 2004 runners-up China, Inileyev is not about to throw in the towel on his side’s AFC Asian Cup chances.
"We still have chances to qualify for the next round. I said yesterday that we would try to win all of our matches but today we played a very good team and Iran deserved their glory.
"If Maksim Shatskikh had played today, maybe he could have helped us to get the win. But he had finished his suspension and will be able to help us in our next two games."
The Uzbeks took the lead in the first half through a Rahman Rezaei own goal, but second half strikes by Seyed Jalal Hosseini and Javad Kazemian helped Group C favourites Iran claim all three points.
Alikulov is out for the tournament after suffering a head injury during the team’s pre-tournament training camp and Inileyev felt that the presence of the experienced 28-year-old was sorely missed.
"The absence of Alikulov was a big problem for our defence today," the Uzbek coach said.
"We made some crucial mistakes in central defence that might not have happened if we had him playing today and he may have resolved some of the problems that we had at the back if he had been playing."
However, Inileyev was keen to point out that the result could have been very different if Timur Kapadze had not missed a glorious opportunity for the Uzbeks just minutes before Kazemian’s winner.
"Of course, the first match is always difficult for any team, particularly against a strong opponent like Iran," added Inileyev.
"But we had good chances to score more goals during the match today and Timur Kapadze had a very good opportunity when the score was still tied, but he missed.
"If he had scored, the result might have turned out very differently today."
With matches still to come against co-host Malaysia and 2004 runners-up China, Inileyev is not about to throw in the towel on his side’s AFC Asian Cup chances.
"We still have chances to qualify for the next round. I said yesterday that we would try to win all of our matches but today we played a very good team and Iran deserved their glory.
"If Maksim Shatskikh had played today, maybe he could have helped us to get the win. But he had finished his suspension and will be able to help us in our next two games."
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