In the round of 16 knockout round of the Asian Cup, the UAE men's football team and the Tajikistan men's football team had a fierce matchup. After the entire match, UAE played out a 1-1 draw with each other in the allotted time. After the penalty shootout, they lost the game by a score of 4-6 and were unexpectedly eliminated. And the Tajikistan team set a record, reaching the top 8 and even has a good chance of reaching the top 4. This is really a shame considering that the national football team had a chance to qualify second in the group stage, because judging by Tajikistan's match schedule, this team does have a real chance of reaching the last four.
The UAE team are mid-table in the Asian Cup, but in the group stage, they often cause surprises. In the face of the mediocre Palestinian team, the UAE took the initiative to release the water, not only sending an own goal, but also a penalty. In the end, they ended up in a 1-1 draw to earn a point for Palestine, which was undoubtedly a very crucial scoring link. In the final round of the group stage against Iran, the UAE was protected by the referee and the three goals scored by Iran were denied, which allowed the UAE to successfully maintain the second place.
It is no exaggeration to say that the UAE is undoubtedly a team full of human touch in the Asian Cup. The team was quite lucky to meet Tajikistan in the knockout rounds, especially considering that their opponents were newcomers to the Asian Cup. Although the UAE team was full of confidence, they encountered stubborn resistance from the Tajikistan team in the game. The UAE team shared the view that they were more than capable of beating each other easily, but the end result was that they were knocked out of the competition.
In this matchup, Tajikistan was the first team to score. In the 30th minute of the game, Hanonov received a pass from his teammate and gave Tajikistan a 1-0 lead with a header. At this time, the game entered the last link - the comparison of the strength of the two sides. By the 93rd minute of the game, the Asian Cup underdogs had already taken a 1-0 lead over the UAE, but something unexpected happened. In the 94th minute, Mubarak scored with a header to make it a 1-1 draw. In the stands, fans in the UAE celebrated the occasion with great enthusiasm.
The match went to a penalty shoot-out stage, with the UAE players being saved from a penalty in the second round, only to lose the game 4-6 and fail to advance to the last eight. Tajikistan has the potential to create more miracles, as their next round opponents are the champions of Iraq and Jordan, both teams are not very strong, Tajikistan has a chance to reach the semi-finals, and it has to be said that the national football team could have also reached the semi-finals. It's a pity that our national football team didn't perform well, and it was too late to miss such a good road to the top 4! Some fans believe that if the goals scored by the national football team in the match against Tajikistan were counted, then the situation would be different and our future would be affected.