World Cup woe for Uzbeks despite 5-1 rout

Uzbekistan fell short of an automatic World Cup berth Tuesday when they were edged out by South Korea despite hammering Qatar 5-1 in their final group qualifier.

The former Soviet republic, bidding to become the first Central Asian team to reach football’s global showpiece, needed to win by seven goals to avoid the play-offs with five second-half strikes not quite enough.

Uzbekistan now go into a play-off against either Jordan or Oman, who play later in Group B, with the winner facing the fifth-placed team from South American qualifying for a place at Brazil 2014.

Uzbekistan knew they needed to win big, and they threatened early on when Qatar ‘keeper Ahmed Abonora fumbled a Server Djeparov corner and Jasur Khasanov only just failed to capitalise.

On 36 minutes, striker Alexander Geynrikh was just inches from connecting with a sharp ball from Khasanov on the left which would have put Uzbekistan ahead, but they fell behind to a sucker-punch only seconds later.

Trying to play the ball out of defence, a hard pass cannoned off the legs of Djeparov and into the path of Hasan Al Haydos, and the forward picked out Abdulqadir Ilyas who finished with aplomb to give Qatar a shock 1-0 lead.

Qatar defender Ibrahim Abdulmajed nearly did Uzbekistan a favour when his header from a corner crashed against his own crossbar, and Khasanov tested the woodwork again with a sweeping volley from the edge of the box.

Geynrikh had the ball in the net but was flagged offside, and in first-half injury time he wriggled through two defenders but saw his close-range shot denied by goalkeeper Abonora.

Uzbekistan took up residence in Qatari territory in the second half and they finally got their reward when Timur Kapadze floated in a long ball and Djeparov’s quick cross was poked home by substitute striker Bahodir Nasimov on 60 minutes.

Oleg Zoteev’s dribble and shot put Uzbekistan in front on 72 minutes, and the massed fans at Bunyodkor Stadium dared to dream when Nasimov scored their third from close range two minutes later.

Late strikes from Odil Ahmedov and Ulugbek Bakaev raised excitement to fever pitch but the clock quickly ticked through injury time and Uzbekistan were kept waiting for a first foray to football’s biggest stage.