Football: Uruguay rout India despite Anirudh Thapa's goal

Anirudh Thapa briefly lifted the subdued mood at the Salt Lake Stadium with a fine equaliser, but India eventually ran out of steam as two-time former world champions Uruguay cruised to a 6-1 win in their international friendly, on Tuesday.

India showed plenty of promise in the opening half, with Thapa's 22nd-minute goal cancelling out Darwin Nunez's 11th minute penalty and giving the home side belief against the 20th-ranked South Americans.

But fatigue gradually crept in after a 34-minute interruption because of lightning as Uruguay took control and scored five more times through Maximiliano Araujo (28th, 59th), Rodrigo Zalazar (53rd), substitutes Juan Sanabria (71st) and Rodrigo Aguirre.

Khalid Jamil's side thus completed the international window with a 1-1 draw against Panama before suffering 0-4 and 1-5 defeats to Brazil and Uruguay respectively, both in the space of three days.

Nunez had opened the scoring from the spot after Pramveer, who replaced Bijoy Verghese in the defence, brought down Federico Vinas inside the box.

India responded well and Thapa levelled to lift the muted mood in the stands, with the attendance eventually swelling to an official 37,307.

Ryan Williams' shot from the edge of the box was saved by Uruguay goalkeeper Thiago Cardozo, but he could not hold on and Thapa was alert to put the rebound into the net.

The goal sparked one of the loudest moments of the evening inside a stadium that had begun the match with large sections of empty seats.

India continued to threaten, with East Bengal forward Edmund Lalrindika, who came into the side for Sahal Abdul Samad, leading the line alongside Williams with Manvir Singh starting from the right.

Edmund came close to putting India ahead after being played through by Williams, but Santiago Mourino made an excellent sliding challenge to deny him.

India's other major chance came through substitute Mohammed Sanan, who produced a powerful strike after beating Lucas Torreira with a clever turn and creating space for himself.

His 70th minute thunderous effort appeared to be heading in before Cardozo got fingertips to the ball to keep Uruguay's advantage intact.

Uruguay had started by patiently trying to understand India's approach.

The visitors slowed their build-up and gradually enjoyed more possession as the game progressed.

Nunez had already gone close in the 16th minute when Williams lost possession and Uruguay quickly broke forward.

Nunez cut the ball back for Maximiliano Araujo, whose curling effort from the edge of the box struck the post.

Earlier, Manvir had been played into space on the right in the fifth minute and tried to send in a low cross, but Jose Maria Gimenez blocked it.

A minute later, Akash Mishra's long throw created another opening.

Uruguay's clearance fell to Williams outside the box, but his shot was blocked and Anwar Ali sent the rebound over the bar.

Uruguay then won their penalty when Vinas chased a pass into the Indian box and Pramveer slid in and caught the forward.

Nunez, Uruguay's experienced forward who now plays in the Saudi Pro League, sent Gurpreet Singh Sandhu the wrong way with a composed finish into the bottom corner.

India did not lose their attacking intent after going behind.

Williams won possession in midfield and drove forward before choosing to shoot, forcing Cardozo into a save.

The goalkeeper could not hold the effort and Thapa reacted quickest to score.

The match was then interrupted for 34 minutes after the drinks break because of lightning.

Uruguay needed little time to regain the lead after play resumed.

Rodrigo Bentancur picked out Nahitan Nandez on the right, and with too much space available, the full-back delivered a low ball into the box.

Araujo arrived to finish from close range and put Uruguay ahead.

Gurpreet, who retained his place and the captain's armband despite two costly errors in India's 0-4 defeat to Brazil, produced a strong display in goal and kept India in the contest on several occasions before succumbing to the flurry of attacks.

In the 37th minute, the Indian defence was caught out as Nunez was sent through one-on-one with Gurpreet.

The Uruguay forward tried to chip the goalkeeper, but Gurpreet stood his ground and blocked the effort with his face.

There was little he could do however when Uruguay found their rhythm in attack.

Torreira floated a diagonal ball towards Nunez, who nodded it down to Zalazar on the edge of the box. The midfielder took one touch before firing a powerful shot into the bottom corner.

Araujo then completed his brace when Vinas received the ball in India's half and played a well-weighted pass into Araujo's path. He took the ball into the box before calmly finding the bottom right corner.

India's defence could have done more to track Araujo's run as Uruguay opened up a comfortable advantage.

Substitute Sanabria then struck before Aguirre completed the rout.

Diego Forlan, the 2010 World Cup Golden Ball winner, thus improved Uruguay's scoreline from their previous outing, a 4-1 win over South Korea.

That victory was his first as coach after he began his tenure with a 1-3 defeat to Japan.

The former Uruguay star took charge after Marcelo Bielsa's departure following the team's shock group-stage exit from the 2026 World Cup.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by The Bridge Desk. It is published from a syndicated feed.)