Asian Cup debutants Tajikistan on Sunday celebrated making more history as they stunned the United Arab Emirates (UAE) on penalties to join Australia in the quarter-finals.
After the game ended 1-1 in Doha following 120 tense minutes, Tajikistan won a dramatic shootout 5-3 with Alisher Shukurov holding his nerve with the final spot-kick.
The Central Asians, ranked 106th in the world and at their first Asian Cup, now face either Jordan or the 2007 champions Iraq in the last eight.
Photo: Reuters
Goalkeeper Rustam Yatimov made the decisive save from Caio Canedo with the UAE’s second penalty of the shoot-out, and his outfield teammates did the rest.
Tajikistan’s charismatic Croatian coach Petar Segrt called his team “the black horses of the tournament,” adding that “nobody knows how far we can go.”
“I have no limits for the players because every game they surprise me again,” he said. “My next dream is to go to the next round again. I think in Tajikistan tonight, nobody will sleep.”
Tajikistan had looked set for a famous victory in normal time when Vakhdat Khanonov scored with a 30th-minute header, only for Khalifa al-Hammadi to equalize in the 95th minute and send the game into extra-time.
“I dedicate this goal to my brother who passed away,” the defender Khanonov said. “He is not with us and can’t see my happiness.”
The UAE reached the semi-finals at the last two Asian Cups, but Paulo Bento’s side bow out to a side ranked more than 40 places lower than them.
Tajikistan drew with China and beat Lebanon in the first round to advance as Group A runners-up.
Segrt said the UAE’s late equalizer had taken the wind out of his team, but “then very fast the players got up.”
“This is the character of the players, of the coach, of the country,” he said. “This is the fighting spirit.”
Australia set up a tasty clash against South Korea or Saudi Arabia in the last eight with a 4-0 win over a spirited, but limited Indonesia.
The Socceroos are trying to win the title for a second time and were again solid rather than spectacular in getting the job done in the tricky encounter.
Two goals in the first half, a deflected own goal on 12 minutes and a diving header by Martin Boyle on the stroke of the break, put Graham Arnold’s side on their way.
With Indonesia out of gas at the end, Craig Goodwin volleyed in a rebound on 89 minutes for 3-0 and defender Harry Souttar made it four in stoppage-time.
The scoreline flattered Australia, but it was their third clean sheet in four matches and they have conceded only once.
“Indonesia made it tough for us, physically they were very big and strong,” coach Graham Arnold said. “We told the boys to be ready for a fight and a physical battle.”
By the time Cameron Menzies finally left the arena on Monday, the blood gushing from the gash on his right hand had trickled down his wrist, part of his forearm and — somehow — up to his face. Smeared in crimson and regret, and already mouthing sheepish apologies to the crowd, he disappeared down the steps, pursued by a stern-looking Matt Porter, the chief executive of Professional Darts Corp (PDC). The physical scars from Menzies’ encounter with the Alexandra Palace drinks table after his 3-2 defeat against Charlie Manby at the Darts World Championship would be gone within a few weeks.
Manchester United on Monday blew the lead three times to miss out on moving up to fifth in the Premier League as AFC Bournemouth would not be beaten in a thrilling 4-4 draw at Old Trafford. United have lost just once in their past 10 games, but Ruben Amorim would be frustrated as more points at home were frittered away despite arguably the best attacking display of his reign in charge. Amad Diallo and Casemiro gave the hosts a halftime lead either side of Antoine Semenyo’s equalizer. Two Bournemouth goals from Evanilson and Marcus Tavernier in seven minutes at the start of the
LOW-GOAL SHOOT-OUT: Of the nine penalties in the shoot-out, only three went in, with Flamengo’s Samuel Lino, and Vitinha and Nuno Mendes of PSG netting Matvei Safonov on Wednesday made four straight penalty saves in a penalty shoot-out to help Paris Saint-Germain beat Flamengo in the Intercontinental Cup final and win a sixth trophy of the year. The Russian goalkeeper was thrown in the air by his teammates after his exploits in the shoot-out, which was won 2-1 by PSG after a 1-1 draw after extra-time. It completed a trophy-laden 12 months for the French team, who had already won the Trophee des Champions, Ligue 1, the Coupe de France, the UEFA Champions League and the UEFA Super Cup — also on penalties against Tottenham Hotspur in
Italian Luca de Aliprandini described Saturday’s World Cup giant slalom at Val d’Isere as the hardest race of his life, coming two days after his Swiss partner Michelle Gisin suffered a heavy fall in training which required neck surgery. De Aliprandini finished 26th in the men’s event won by Loic Meillard, but the result paled into insignificance with two-time Olympic ski champion Gisin in hospital with injuries to her wrist, knee and cervical spine (neck). “It was Michelle’s wish that I race here. I couldn’t say no to her, but it was the toughest race of my entire life,” an emotional De
RSS