Uruguay score six in Kolkata, three days after Brazil scored four

Uruguay beat India 6-1 in a friendly at the Vivekananda Yuba Bharati Krirangan in Kolkata on Tuesday, three days after India had lost 4-0 to Brazil in Bengaluru.

Darwin Nunez scored from the penalty spot in the 11th minute. Anirudh Thapa equalised in the 22nd. Maxi Araujo restored the lead in the 28th, with Nicolas Nandez credited for the assist, and Araujo scored again in the 59th. Rodrigo Zalazar made it 4-1 in the 53rd minute. Juan Manuel Sanabria scored in the 71st. Rodrigo Aguirre finished it in the 86th, assisted by Facundo Pellistri. Nandez was booked in the 39th minute.

The shot count was 13 to 18 in Uruguay's favour, with five of India's on target and eight of Uruguay's. Possession was 42 percent to 58. India completed 284 of 324 passes. Uruguay completed 416 of 462. Corners were 4-6. India had two saves to make more than Uruguay, and four of Uruguay's shots were blocked.

India lined up in a 4-2-3-1 with Gurpreet Singh Sandhu in goal. Thapa played in the line behind the striker and scored the only goal. Uruguay used a 4-4-2 shape with Nunez up front and Araujo, who scored twice, starting wide. Lucas Torreira and Guillermo Varela came on at half-time for Emiliano Martinez and Nandez. India changed both wide attackers at the break, Brison Varghese and Suhail Samad replacing the starters on that side.

The friendly sits in a short run of results that has not produced a win. India drew 1-1 with Panama in Bengaluru on 25 September, lost 4-0 to Brazil at the Sree Kanteerava Stadium on 3 October, and have now lost 6-1 to Uruguay. Earlier in the year they drew 1-1 and lost 3-1 away to Tajikistan in June. Tuesday was the first meeting with Uruguay. The head-to-head before kickoff was blank. It is now one win to Uruguay.

Nunez's penalty was the opening. Thapa's reply, 11 minutes later, was the only time India were level. From the 28th minute the game ran one way, with a second-half burst of four goals. Araujo's second, Zalazar, Sanabria and Aguirre came inside 33 minutes. A team that concedes four times after the hour in a friendly is not being asked to hold a league shape for 38 weeks. It is being asked to hold a defensive line for one evening against a side that has Nunez, Araujo and Pellistri on the pitch. India did not hold it.

The stadium in Salt Lake has held World Cup qualifiers and the I-League. A 10am kickoff on a Tuesday, listed by FIFA as a friendly, drew the two-time world champions for a goal difference that will not enter a ranking table as a competitive result. Friendlies still count in the FIFA ranking, at a lower weight than qualifiers. A 6-1 home loss moves the number. It does not move a group.

Thapa's goal is the detail that keeps the score from being a blank. He equalised after the penalty and before Araujo's first. For 6 minutes India were level with Uruguay. The next 64 minutes produced five Uruguay goals and none for India. That split, more than the final figure, is the tape the coaching staff will watch.

Brazil on Saturday and Uruguay on Tuesday are two different opponents and one repeated problem: India conceded four and then six at home inside four days. The next friendly will show whether the line can be held against a side that does not have a forward of Nunez's pace. Tuesday did not answer that. It answered a narrower question. Against this Uruguay, at this stadium, India scored once and let in six.