Uzbekistan take heart from home form

FIFAworldcup.com September 31 Uzbekistan may have struggled for results for much of the year but the 3-2 victory over Kuwait in their decisive last group match in Tashkent has given fresh impetus to the Central Asian nation heading into the first leg of their play-off against Bahrain on 3 September. In addition, and despite the fact that against-the-odds triumph was their first in the final qualifying round, the former Soviet republic boast a strong record on home soil, having not lost any of their last six qualifying games played in Tashkent since February 2004, winning three and drawing three. In the second stage of qualifying, they came from behind to earn a 1-1 draw with Iraq and followed that up with a 3-0 win over Palestine and a 6-1 demolition of Chinese Taipei. Into this year and Anvarjon Soliev's last-minute effort in the 1-1 draw with Saudi Arabia in February preserved their unbeaten run at the Pakhtakor stadium. After coming close to beating the South Koreans in June - they conceded an injury-time equaliser by debutant Park Chu-young - they would not be denied in their last qualifying match when under newly-appointed coach Bobby Houghton they pulled off an thrilling comeback from 2-0 down to eliminate Group A rivals Kuwait on 17 August. Speaking ahead of the Kuwait match, Houghton had said: "Should we get past Kuwait then we would have a better chance as we would have more time to prepare the team." This has indeed proved the case but the coach is facing other difficulties in his preparations, notably the prospect of having to field an under-strength team against Bahrain. Both Soliev, scorer of the winning goal against Kuwait, and defender Nikolay Shirshov will be suspended while marksman Alexander Geynrikh is sidelined by injury. To make up for these absences in attack, Vladimir Shishelov of Chinese side Changchun Yatai or the Kazakh league's top scorer Ulugbek Bakaev of Tobol FC could join Maksim Shatskikh up front. Houghton's opposite number, Bahrain coach Luka Peruzovic, has fewer worries about absentees having fielded an under-strength team for their final Group B qualifier in Manama on 17 August, which ended in a 3-2 defeat against Korea DPR. Peruzovic was not too concerned by that result as it had no bearing on their position in the section. "I didn't field some key players and we also had some other players missing due to injuries," he said. "We played against Korea DPR under certain circumstances so the result didn't reflect the team's real potential." And the coach expects to be close to full-strength for the match in Tashkent. "Hopefully all the missing players will return on 3 September." Bahrain's only victory in the final qualifying round came away from home when they defeated Korea DPR 2-1 in Pyongyang in March. Since that success, however, they have suffered 1-0 losses away to Japan and Iran and Peruzovic knows an awkward assignment awaits in Tashkent. "They (Uzbekistan) showed how tough they will be in the match with Kuwait so we need to be well-prepared," he said. The second leg will follow in Manama on 7 September with the winners advancing to a November play-off against the fourth-placed team from the CONCACAF region.