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K S R Menon
Dubai, Nov 25: India will field the same team that lost to United Arab Emirates when they meet Uzbekistan in a Asia Cup Group 3 football qualifier in Al Ain tonight.
After three days of rest following the 1-3 loss to the hosts, the team is eager to take on the central Asian side, who, true to form, thrashed Sri Lanka 6-0 on Tuesday.
``They are a balanced team and love to play fast, attacking soccer. It will be a good experience playing against the best team and we should give our best on the field,'' coach Sukhwinder Singh said.
In the other match tonight, Sri Lanka take on Bangladesh, 0-3 losers to UAE on Tuesday.
Sri Lanka will seek to avenge their 1-0 defeat to Bangladesh at the SAF Games in Kathmandu last September. The Lankans are playing without their regular goalkeeper, but have experienced players like Roshan Perera, Moidin Amanullah and Isuru Perera.
``We did create a couple of scoring chances against Uzbekistan, but against Bangladesh, we have to win,'' their Malaysian coach M Karathusaid.
Bangladesh are handicapped by the absence of the experienced Jewel Rana and other senior players. ``We are without five of our regulars, but the actual competition starts now and we have to for victory,'' their Iraqi coach Samir Mohammed said.
Uzbekistan are sitting pretty and are not overly concerned about their deciding encounter with the hosts on Saturday.
``We are playing according to a plan and want to take one game at a time,'' Uzbek coach Mahmoud Rahimov said.
He had a good word about the sub-continental teams. ``It is good to see Bangladesh and Sri Lanka put up such a fight against us. They have a good future if they persist with young teams,'' he said.
Copyright © 1999 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd.
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