Uzbekistan and Bolivia will do battle for the first time in international football on Friday, when they meet in a friendly in Saudi Arabia.

Both nations are playing for the first time in 2023, after most recently being in action last November.

Match preview

Uzbekistan head into action for the first time in 2023 after a strong calendar year last time around, with the White Wolves winning seven of their nine international matches while only suffering a single defeat at the hands of Costa Rica in September.

Prior to that, they successfully booked their place in the upcoming AFC Asian Cup, topping their group in the third qualifying round with a perfect record from games against Thailand, Maldives and Sri Lanka, as Uzbekistan scored nine goals along the way while keeping three straight clean sheets.

Srecko Katanec's side then handed Cameroon a 2-0 defeat and suffered the narrow loss to Costa Rica, before most recently playing in a pair of friendlies in November, starting with a 2-0 victory over neighbours Kazakhstan thanks to goals from Khojimat Erkinov and Eldor Shomurodov, before playing out a goalless stalemate with Russia in their last outing.

Now returning after a five-month break in action, the White Wolves will aim to pick up where they left off last year and continue building a positive run in their upcoming friendlies with Bolivia and Venezuela.

Their visitors, on the other hand, will aim to begin correcting their form on the international stage, having now lost their last six matches since a beating of Trinidad and Tobago in a friendly last January.

In the year that followed, La Verde firstly played the final four games in South American World Cup Qualifying, and after picking up 15 points from their opening 14 outings, they eventually slumped to ninth spot, nine points short of fifth-placed Peru, as they suffered four consecutive defeats.

Following disappointing losses at the hands of Venezuela and Chile, Bolivia's campaign culminated in 3-0 and 4-0 beatings to Colombia and Brazil respectively in March, bringing an end to Cesar Farias's tenure as manager of the national team.

They would return to action six months later in a friendly against Senegal and lost 2-0, before La Verde turned to Gustavo Costas to lead the side as their new manager, and his spell did not get off to the best start either, with his first and only game in charge thus far ending in a 1-0 friendly defeat to Peru in November.

Now coming into friendlies with Uzbekistan and Saudi Arabia this week, Bolivia have the chance to rebuild some confidence in the camp and put their first wins on the board under the new management.

Team News

Uzbekistan will be led out by key man Eldor Shomurodov, who spearheads their attack having netted 33 international goals in his 61 career caps thus far.

He was flanked by Azizbek Turgunboev and Khojimat Erkinov in the latest friendlies, although Igor Sergeyev does also have a strong claim to start, with 17 goals for the White Wolves to his name.

Fatih Karagumruk man Otabek Shukurov offers plenty of experience in midfield, having recently reached 50 caps for his national team, while Husniddin Aliqulov, Umar Eshmurodov and Rustam Ashurmatov are all fighting to start at centre-back with Farrukh Sayfiev being a relative mainstay on the right-hand side of the defence.

Bolivia have a key man of their own up front, with Marcelo Moreno bound to lead the line, having netted 30 goals in 98 caps for La Verde.

Many other experienced players are not involved in the squad for these friendlies, though, with the likes of defenders Diego Bejarano and Luis Haquin, midfielders Moises Villarroel, Leonel Justiniano and Fernando Saucedo and attackers Rodrigo Ramallo, Henry Vaca and Bruno Miranda all not travelling to Saudi Arabia.

With somewhat of a makeshift squad available, Jose Sagredo and Adrian Jusino will be heavily relied upon in the middle of the defence, while Danny Bejarano is bound to fill the void left in midfield.

Uzbekistan possible starting lineup:
Yusupov; Sayfiev, Ashurmatov, Eshmurodov, Mirsaidov; Shukurov, Hamrobekov; Turgunboev, Erkinov; Shomurodov, Sergeyev

Bolivia possible starting lineup:
Viscarra; Medina, Jusino, Sagredo, Roca; Bejarano, Chura, R Vaca; Cuellar, Moreno, Algaranaz

We say: Uzbekistan 2-1 Bolivia

Uzbekistan find themselves in a positive run and are certainly becoming a resolute side with qualities across the pitch.

We see them triumphing over a struggling Bolivia team who are missing many key players, with Shomurodov likely punishing La Verde's shaky defence.


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