India routed 6-1 by Uruguay at VYBK Stadium in Kolkata

India suffered a 6-1 defeat to Uruguay at the VYBK Stadium in Kolkata on Tuesday, conceding five goals after an early equaliser by Anirudh Thapa left the hosts briefly level. Uruguay’s goals came from Darwin Núñez (penalty), Maxi Araujo, Rodrigo Zalazar, Juan Sanabria and Rodrigo Aguirre, while Thapa scored India’s lone goal.

Uruguay opened the scoring through a Darwin Núñez penalty in the 11th minute before India responded to level the match; play was then interrupted by a thunderstorm and lightning that forced around a 30-minute stoppage. The match resumed after the delay, momentum shifted away from India and La Celeste reclaimed and extended their lead to make it 2-1 by half-time.

India’s equaliser originated from a counter begun by Ryan Williams, whose shot was saved by goalkeeper Thiago Cardozo but not cleared, allowing Anirudh Thapa to pounce and finish with his left foot. The report notes Thapa became India’s second player, after Manas Bhattacharya, to score against Uruguay.

The Blue Tigers produced their strongest football in the first half, pressing Uruguay, forcing turnovers and launching counterattacks while taking multiple shots and maintaining confident possession. The defence operated as a compact unit in that period, a pattern the article compares to India’s recent matches against Brazil and Panama.

Khalid Jamil made a defensive change by replacing Pramveer with Bijoy Varghese; the piece describes the substitution as unnecessary at the time and says Pramveer had recovered from conceding the penalty to form a good partnership with Anwar Ali. The reshuffle is reported to have disrupted the backline’s cohesion, during which Uruguay scored two quick second-half goals through Maxi Araujo and Rodrigo Zalazar.

The article states India were unable to sustain the high-pressing intensity they showed early on, allowing Uruguay’s midfielders and attackers space and time after the interval. It also notes that some observers might point to limited recovery time following India’s game against Brazil on Saturday, while adding that India had previously failed to maintain high-pressing levels against Panama and Brazil.

The report includes a tweet captioned: "Anirudh Thapa following India vs Uruguay. 🇮🇳The midfielder believes India could have done more if the game came in the middle of the season.#IndianFootball #INDURU #Uruguay pic.twitter.com/BK9O4toc1E" and concludes that Khalid Jamil will need to find a way to keep his players focused and energetic in the second half to achieve better results.

India are scheduled to face New Zealand in November during the next international window.