India no match for Uruguay; Chile too hot for Bahrain

Uruguay produced a delightful display of attacking soccer in their last Group B match to rout hosts India 3-0 and show them the door in the Sahara Cup Millennium football tournament in Kochi on Monday. They led 1-0 at the breather.

Segales Juan helped Uruguay, with a header, to forge ahead in the 39th minute and Varela Ricardo fired in the second goal in the 56th minute. Substitute Martirena Wilson pumped in the third goal in the 71st minute.

Uruguay, with a maximum six points from two matches in the three-team league, topped the group. Iceland, the other team in the group, also moved into the quarter-finals, collecting three points (1 win, 1 loss). India bowed out without a point.

Uruguay could have won the match by a bigger margin but for some good goal keeping by Virender Singh. Though India lost, they put up a good show in the first session and early part of the second, but could not keep up the tempo.

At the other end, Uruguay played at a fast pace and delighted the crowd with their ball control and speed.

In an another match, tournament favourites Chile played below par but managed to beat a spirited Bahrain 2-0, at the Salt Lake stadium in Calcutta.

Star striker Hector Tapia and fellow-striker Fernando Martel struck the goals for the Latin American outfit, in a match which seldom rose to great heights.

The Chileans, who had scraped past Japan by a solitary goal in their opening match, could not really find their rhythm and looked a pale shadow of themselves against a technically weaker team.

They shot into the lead in the 28th minute with Tapia finding the target from inside the box with a brilliant header, giving no chance at all to the Bahrain custodian Rahman Karim.

The goal was the result of a fast counter attack which saw Martel break through the defence from the right flank with a sudden burst of speed and unleash a measured centre towards Tapia, who leaped to head in.

Leading by a solitary goal at the interval, the Chileans accelerated the pace of the game after the breather and managed to increase the lead in the 81st minute with a rather opportunistic goal.

Bahrain had themselves to blame for the second goal as Martel's powerful volley from the edge of the box was deflected into the goal by a charging defender, Arif Razak.