37,307 spectators, as it was announced by the All India Football Federation (AIFF), witnessed a sorry surrender from the Indian team as the Blue Tigers suffered a 6-1 defeat at the hands of Uruguay.

Despite a valiant show in the first 28 minutes, Khalid Jamil’s men were schooled by the South American giants in a match which witnessed a halt due to severe lightning in Kolkata.

India vs Uruguay: As It Happened

India made a decent start to the match. The scarcely filled Salt Lake Stadium had a collective gasp when Anwar Ali’s left-footed shot flew over the head of Cardozo. Just a couple of minutes later, Edmund Lalrindika went through, but his shot was superbly blocked.

The adrenaline from the crowd in the early stages took a massive blow as Pramveer committed a challenge on Federico Vinas, resulting in a penalty for the visitors. The decision came under scrutiny as Pramveer seemed to have got a piece of the ball, but the spot kick was given.

Amid the jeers, Darwin Nunez made no mistake, sending Gurpreet to the wrong side as he dispatched the spot kick to give Uruguay the lead in the 11th minute of the match.

The home side, cladded in all saffron attire, continued to come forward. Apuia broke the lines and then took an ambitious shot, which flew off target. Rodrigo Martinez then came close for Uruguay again, but his shot hit the woodwork.

The Blue Tigers, quite remarkably, found parity in the 22nd minute of the match. A superb solo run splitting the defence from Ryan Williams ended up in a shot, and the rebound was bundled home by Anirudh Thapa. The entire VYBK erupted as India found the goal.

As severe lightning halted the match for around 35 minutes, the resumption saw Uruguay immediately retaking the lead as Maximiliano Araujo found the net. The visitors came close again but Rodrigo Martinez could only find the woodwork.

After the break, Rodrigo Zalazar found the net with a rasping drive past Gurpreet. And minutes later, Darwin Nunez found Araujo with a ball, and the latter found his second goal of the match.

Mohammed Sanan’s long-distance effort was saved by the Uruguayan keeper for a corner, but the resulting India set piece led to the fifth for La Garra Charrua, as a lightning-fast counterattack saw Juan Sanabria find the net, as Gurpreet picked the ball up for the fifth time in the match.

Albino Gomes came on at the goal in place of Sandhu, but he was not spared, as Rodrigo Aguirre’s left foot capped off a 6-1 drubbing of the Indian team.

India get Reality Check, Again!

Although defensive solidity has been repeatedly mentioned by Khalid Jamil, his team has struggled to keep up the promise across the matches. It was too easy for Uruguay to breach the Indian defense at times, and they continued to find goals at regular intervals.

The Indian team huffed and puffed, created some excellent openings going forward, but it seems that once the lockgate opens, the Blue Tigers fail to put up any resistance after that.

The Indian team will have to assess themselves as they return to opponents who are closer to their level. Although Uruguay and Brazil tests will be seen as a learning curve, the bleak reality of ‘not good enough’ reverberates across the Kolkata stadium. In the last match against Brazil, harsh truth at least had a cushion of three goalkeeping howlers, but against Uruguay, the raw endoskeleton of Indian defence has been exposed quite vividly.

Do you remember the number? 37,307 fans! As the full time whistle approached, it rapidly diminished.