Tajikistan To The Quarter-Finals Of The 2023 Asian Cup After Overthrowing The UAE

JAKARTA - Tajikistan got a ticket to the 2023 Asian Cup quarter-finals after defeating the United Arab Emirates at the Ahmad bin Ali Stadium on Sunday, January 28, 2024, WIB night.

The Crowns, nicknamed Tajikistan, gave fierce resistance even though they were not seeded.

They even took the lead in the 30th minute through Vakhdat Khanonov. He managed to break into Khalid Elisa's goal after using Zoir Juribaev's pass.

The UAE then responded five minutes later to find an equalizer. However, their efforts through Zayed Sultan still have not yielded results.

The 1-0 advantage for Tajikistan lasted until halftime. In the second half, the game became more open from the start.

The UAE has ambitions to equalize, but Tajikistan has not remained silent.

Despite losing possession, Tajikistan has troubled the UAE defense several times with their effective attacks.

Meanwhile, the UAE camp was hit by a slick Tajikistan goalkeeper, Rustam Yatimov.

Until 90 minutes of normal time, all UAE efforts failed to produce goals. They were only able to score the goals needed in injury time, 90+5 to be exact.

Khalifa Al Hammadi entered the scoreboard after his header rocked Tajikistan's net using Ali Saleh's free kick.

The 1-1 score lasted until the second half was over. As a result, the match continued into extra time.

However, no more goals were created in 2 x 15 minutes so it had to go on to the penalty shootout to determine the winner.

In the high-five round, Tajikistan kickers successfully carried out all their duties. Unfortunately for the UAE, Caio Canedo was the only kicker to fail as the executor.

Caio Canedo's failure forced the UAE to bury its dream of stepping into the 2023 Asian Cup quarter-finals.

Meanwhile, Tajikistan is beyond expectations of being able to walk further. In fact, on paper The Crowns is not seeded.

Judging from the draw for the 2023 Asian Cup group phase, Tajikistan only joined in pot 4 with India, Thailand, Malaysia, Hong Kong, and Indonesia.

Ranked, Tajikistan is far adrift of the UAE. The Crowns are ranked 106th in FIFA while the UAE is ranked 64th.