Indian women's team 0-3 against Uzbekistan, says goodbye to Olympic dreams

This was the team’s third straight loss in the second round of the Olympic qualifiers.

The Indian women's football team bowed out of the AFC Olympic Qualifiers Round 2 with a 0-3 loss to Uzbekistan at Bunyodkor Stadium in Tashkent on Wednesday.

They were already reeling under the disappointment of missing out on qualification for Round 3 after their defeats to Japan and Vietnam. The Indian team failed to find the satisfaction of rallying against the hosts in their last game as well.

Backed by the crowd, Uzbekistan dominated the proceedings from the very beginning of the game. The hosts played their A game as a win would put the them in prime contention for the best second-place team slot. India, however, were playing for pride. Just ten minutes into the game, Nilufar Kudratova gave early lead to the hosts breaching the struggling Indian defense.

Shreya Hooda showed off some exceptional goalkeeping to ensure that India didn't fall behind by more through the half. In the 14th minute, Hooda made a double save from Nilufar when the striker was one-on-one with her. On another occasion, she denied forward Dilrabo from point-blank range again. 

In the second half of the game India focused more on the attack with Manisha Kalyan and Anju Tamang leading the charge. In the 49th minute, Manisha took a chance but the ball bounced off the crossbar.

The Uzbeks again built up the pressure after Hooda left the grounds due to a bloody injury during a save. In the 51st minute Karachik doubled the team's score. She added a third in the 83rd minute with a long ranger to give the home side a comfortable win and a chance to qualify for the next round.

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