DOHA, (Qatar) : The inspirational story of Tajikistan's journey in the 2023 Asian Cup continued towards the quarterfinals following a 5-3 penalty shootout victory over the United Arab Emirates (UAE) at the Ahmad Bin Ali Stadium here after both teams were tied 1-1 in regulation and extra time.
In the round of 16 match, UAE who were trailing for almost the entire match, managed to score the equaliser through Khalifa Al Hammadi's glancing header and cancel out Tajikistan's lead after Vahdat Hanonov had given his side the lead in the first half.
In the penalty shootout, goalkeeper Rustam Yatimov emerged as the hero for Tajikistan when he dived full length to save UAE's second spot kick by Caio Canedo Correa, thus giving the squad under Petar Segrt their berth in the quarterfinals.
During the shootout, skipper Akhtam Nazarov, Vahdat Hanonov, Ehson Panshanbe, Rustam Soirov and Alisher Shukurov managed to accomplish their tasks by beating UAE goalkeeper Khalid Eisa Al-Mesmari successfully while UAE managed to score their three spot kicks through Abdulla Idrees Al Hammadi, Fabio Lima and Ali Saleh.
Both teams started the match on a positive note and after launching attack after attack, Tajikistan finally managed to break the deadlock in the 30th minute when Hanonov who was challenged by two UAE defenders still managed to out jump the duo and direct his header into the net from a cross by Zoir Dzhuraboev.
Zayed Sultan Al Zaabi had a good chance to equalise in the 38th minute when he ran from behind the Tajikistan defence to connect a pass but his shot headed straight to the goalkeeper.
Tajikistan had a golden opportunity to clinch the match at the beginning of the second half but poor finishing resulted in wasted chances when Panshanbe's attempt in the 55th minute and Alisher Dzhalilov's attempt three minutes later were denied by Al-Mesmari in the UAE goal.
Dzhalilov was once again presented with a golden opportunity but he failed to finish off a fine cross by Samiev Shahrom in the 71st minute.
Meanwhile, Tajikistan's quarterfinal opponent on Friday will be either Iraq or Jordan who play against each other today (January 29). — Bernama