Uruguay thrash India 6-1 in Kolkata

Uruguay cruised to a 6-1 victory over India in an international friendly at the Salt Lake Stadium in Kolkata on Tuesday.

The visitors took an early lead through Darwin Nunez, who converted a penalty in the 11th minute. India responded strongly, with Anirudh Thapa scoring in the 22nd minute to level the match.

The match was briefly suspended after lightning and thunderstorms around the stadium, forcing players and officials to leave the pitch for safety. Play resumed after the weather interruption.

Uruguay regained the lead through Maximiliano Araujo before the break and then took control after the restart.

Rodrigo Zalazar, Araujo, Antonio Sanabria and Federico Aguirre added further goals as the two-time world champions completed a convincing victory under new head coach Diego Forlan.

For India, the defeat came three days after a 4-0 loss to Brazil. The Blue Tigers had earlier drawn 1-1 with Panama in Bengaluru, making the Uruguay match their third high-profile friendly of the international window.

Despite the heavy defeat, India showed attacking intent early in the game and briefly unsettled Uruguay after Thapa’s equaliser.

Uruguay, ranked 20th in the FIFA rankings, were the stronger side as the match progressed and finished the international window with a dominant victory.

sks