FIFA World Cup 2026: Coach Cannavaro Proud Of Uzbekistan Despite Defeat

Uzbekistan coach Fabio Cannavaro said he was “very proud” of his team despite them facing a 3-1 loss to Colombia in the FIFA World Cup 2026 match on Wednesday (local time), as per Reuters.

Despite a spirited second-half equaliser from the Central Asian side, Nestor Lorenzo’s men demonstrated their superior tournament pedigree to secure three vital points and take the early leadership in Group K Daniel Munoz opened the scoring for Colombia before Uzbekistan briefly levelled through Abbosbek Fayzullaev. Luis Diaz restored Colombia’s lead with a composed finish, and Jaminton Campaz sealed the 3-1 win with a late goal in stoppage time.

After the match, Cannavaro praised his team’s performance, saying he was very proud of how they played and impressed with what he saw on the pitch. He also noted the tough conditions of playing away in Mexico, adding that the atmosphere felt more like a home game for Colombia due to the strong support from Colombian fans.

“I told them that I am very proud of the match they played. I told them I really liked what I saw. It wasn’t easy, we were playing in Mexico, but it felt like playing in Colombia with all the Colombian fans here,” he said as quoted by Reuters.

Cannavaro said the team performed well and worked hard, suggesting that a 3-1 defeat did not accurately reflect their effort.

“When a small team like ours works the way it did today, it’s clear that losing 3-1 is too much,” he said.

Cannavaro said Uzbekistan must continue improving during their debut campaign, especially against strong teams like Colombia and Portugal, who they will play next. He praised his players for staying competitive, adapting to different phases of the game, and delivering a particularly strong second-half performance.

“We have to grow. I always tell them to stay in the match. It’s not easy to play against a team like Colombia or Portugal… Today the team understood when we had to suffer, when we had to control the ball, and when we had to switch from one side to the other. I think the second half was very good,” he said.

Colombia coach Nestor Lorenzo, on the other hand, said the strong support from Colombian fans created a positive atmosphere.

“It is a beautiful energy, but emotionally it weighed on some of the players,” Lorenzo said as quoted by Reuters.

Lorenzo said Colombia should have wrapped up the contest much earlier, admitting his side failed to make the most of their chances due to poor finishing and an overly cautious approach in possession.

“In the first half we could have built a bigger advantage. We lacked finishing. We keep working on that constantly. Sometimes there was too much possession and too much fear of losing the ball. Nobody was finishing the moves,” he said.

In the match, from the opening whistle, Colombia dominated the tempo, stringing together long sequences of possession against Fabio Cannavaro’s men. The initial breakthrough nearly arrived in the 33rd minute when Colombia’s Luis Diaz pierced the backline, only to see his sharp-angle shot strike the far post.

The South American pressure finally broke the deadlock in the 40th minute. Midfielder Jefferson Lerma dinked a perfectly weighted vertical pass over the Uzbek centre-backs. Overlapping right-back Daniel Munoz timed his diagonal run to perfection to smash a flying one-touch volley past goalkeeper Utkir Yusupov to make it 1-0 before the half-time.

The equaliser came in the 60th minute when Eldor Shomurodov controlled the play and fired a volley. Colombian goalkeeper Camilo Vargas failed to deal with the shot cleanly, and Abbosbek Fayzullaev reacted quickest to head in the rebound and level the score.

However, Uzbekistan’s joy lasted a mere five minutes. In the 65th minute, a loose throw-in near the halfway line allowed Gustavo Puerta to take possession and trigger an immediate counter-attack. Puerta squared the ball to Luis Diaz on the edge of the box, who fired a low drive into the far corner to reclaim the lead.

Colombia put the match beyond doubt in the 99th minute, when second-half substitute Jaminton Campaz found the back of the net to seal the 3-1 scoreline.

With Portugal and DR Congo drawing 1-1 earlier, Colombia now sit comfortably at the top of Group K. (ANI)