The leaders of the Uzbekistan national team did not notice that the Kyrgyz players had been playing with a numerical disadvantage for more than an hour during the match. Some accept this as natural, others do not believe the player's words, while some accuse the players of not taking the situation seriously.
Uzbekistan national football team player Jaloliddin Masharipov missed the red card shown to the opponent defender Said Datsiyev in the 24th minute of the match against Kyrgyzstan within the framework of the 2026 World Cup qualifiers. He mentioned this in the 90minutUz podcast.
The player talked about how two opponents appeared in front of the attackers during the game, which caused a problem. When the host mentioned that Kyrgyzstan's red card worked to Uzbekistan's detriment, after which the opponent went into deep defense, the player added:
“I will say one thing, after I was substituted in the 86th minute, I sat down, and Hojimat Erkinov said, ‘bro, at least they received a red card.’ I was surprised and asked, ‘who received a red card?’ Honestly, I didn’t know, I didn’t see it; I must have missed it while I was lying down trying to kick the ball.
After the match, while we were in the shower, I told Eldor, ‘they received a red card during the match,’ and he was also surprised, asking, ‘who received a red card, when did they receive it?’ We thought we were playing eleven against eleven. I didn’t know either.”
At that moment, one of the hosts asked during the break whether the head coach changed the tactics based on the red card.
“There was no talk about the red card; Temur said something, but no one mentioned that there was a red card. I found out after I was substituted; Eldor didn’t know until the end of the match, he found out after the match, in the shower.
If we had known during the match, we would have relaxed. If I had known, I would have told Temur to take off a defender and put in an attacker,” said the player.
A video of this part of the show has spread on social media and is being widely discussed. Many fans who watched the match live from the stands also mentioned that they learned about the red card later, that the Uzbek players were distracted by the penalty in that situation and overlooked the red card, and that the referee showed the red card after a VAR check.
At the same time, there are those who do not believe that this was not discussed at least in the changing room, and that the coach did not mention it.
Additionally, some have blamed the players for their negligence.
Journalist Qahramon Aslanov expressed his surprise at the emergence of such a situation in his post:
“I was astonished that Jaloliddin Masharipov and some other players did not know that the opponent was one player short until the end of the match against Kyrgyzstan. In modern football, achieving a numerical advantage in important zones through proper movement is of great importance, one might even say it is the most important. Jalol also acknowledged that the lack of numbers in the attack caused difficulties, as there were always 2-3 opponent players in front of him and Eldor.
So why was the fact that the opponent was one player short not the main topic during the break? Yes, Temur knows that the opponent received a red card, but it is likely that he did not find it necessary to emphasize ‘guys, we are one player more.’ However, isn’t this the most important detail that should be emphasized and serve as a basis for the plan during the instructions? Did we go into the second half without a plan, or did Masharipov and Shomurodov not listen to the coach’s instructions carefully during the break?
No matter how we understand it, this is not good, in my opinion.”
