Uzbekistan 2-1 Thailand ( att : 18,691 ) - 2023 AFC Asian Cup

January 30, 2024

Following the first of the last 16 knock-out round matches in the 2023 AFC Asian Cup between Australia and Indonesia, the next knock-out game to be followed by these diaries was the encounter between Uzbekistan and Thailand.

Thailand Background

This was the 8^th time Thailand had qualified for the Asian Cup Finals, with their best performance being a third placed finish in 1972. At the start of the tournament they were 113^th in the FIFA rankings.

Thailand qualified for the finals after finishing runners-up in their group played in Uzbekistan, losing 0-2 to today’s opponents, but winning 3-0 against the Maldives and 2-0 against Sri Lanka.

In the Asian Cup Finals, Thailand finished runners-up in Group F, starting with a 2-0 victory over Kyrgyzstan, followed by 0-0 draws with Oman and Saudi Arabia. All three opponents were much higher in the FIFA rankings. Buriram United striker Supachai Chaidad ( 34 caps ) scored both the goals against Kyrgyzstan.

22 of their 26 man squad play their club football in Thailand, with their legionnaires being forward Suphanat Mueanta ( 16 caps ) who plays in Belgium for OH Leuven whilst his brother, midfielder Supachok Sarachat ( 31 caps ) is with Hokkaido Sapporo in Japan. Right-back Nicholas Mikelson ( 9 caps ) plays for OB in Denmark and centre-back Elias Dolah ( 15 caps ) is with Bali United in Indonesia. Interestingly, none of the overseas based players started in the draw with Saudi Arabia, presumably being rested for the knock-out game as Thailand were already assured of a place in the last 16.

Of the local based players, 5 are with 2022/23 champions Buriram United, three with runners-up Bangkok United, 4 with third placed FC Port and 3 with fourth placed Muangthong United. Four players were also from 2021/22 runners up BG Pathum United. All of these sides are based in the capital Bangkok, with the exception of Buriram, which is approximately 400km east of the capital, or a 5 to 6 hour journey by road from Bangkok.

Uzbekistan Background

With a current FIFA ranking of 68, Uzbekistan were the 9^th highest ranked side in the competition. As mentioned above they had qualified ahead of Thailand via a group played in Uzbekistan

Their progress to the last 16 had been via a 0-0 draw with Syria, a 3-0 victory over India, and a 1-1 draw with Australia to finish second in Group B. Uzbekistan’s coach is ex-Yugoslavia and Sampdoria Serie A winning midfielder Srecko Katanec, who is perhaps the greatest ever footballer produced by Slovenia. Uzbekistan’s nickname is the White Wolves.

These diaries have featured football in Uzbekistan on three occasions, with a review of the 2020 season, plus individual games in both the 2021 and 2022 season.

https://fatbearssportingdiaries.blogspot.com/2020/12/review-of-2020-uzbekistan-super-league.html 

These diaries noted that the outstanding player in the 2020 Uzbekistan Super League was Pakhtakor midfielder Jaloliddin Masharipov ( 53 caps ), who then left to join Al Nasr in Saudi Arabia. However, the arrival of a certain ageing Portuguese pretty-boy egomaniac in Saudi Arabia saw Masharipov forced to leave and join mid-table Greek side Panserraikos.

The other outstanding player in the 2020 Uzbek Super League was striker Igor Sergeev ( 72 caps ), who then moved from Pakhtakor to Kazakhstan, initially to Aktobe then Tobol, but now ironically has been spearheading BG Patham United’s unsuccessful AFC Champions League campaign.

Midfielder Jamshid Iskanderov ( 29 caps ) was mentioned in these diaries whilst with South Korean side Seongnam but is now back home with Navbahor Namangan. However, all three of these players only came off the bench against Australia.

Midfielder Otabek Shukurov ( 58 caps ) plays for Fatih Karagumruk in Turkey, whilst Khojimat Erkinov ( 23 caps ) is with Torpedo Moscow, and winger Abbosbek Fayzullaev ( 10 caps ) now plays for CSKA Moscow. Centre-back Rustam Ashurmatov ( 31 caps ) also plays in Russia, with Ruban Kazan. 19 year-old defender Abdukodir Khusanov plays in France for Lens, having earlier played in Belarus at Energetik BGU Minsk.

However, 16 of the squad were based in Uzbekistan, with champions Pakhtakor providing 6 players, 5 played for Nasaf, 4 were at Navbahor and one was with AGMK.

When the game between AGMK and Pakhtakor was featured in these diaries in 2022, six of the Pakhtaktor team that day were in the current Uzbekistan squad, namely defenders Alijonov and Sayfiyev, midfielders  Kholmatov, Khamrobekov and Turgunbaev plus forward Fayzullaev.

https://fatbearssportingdiaries.blogspot.com/2022/09/fc-agmk-0-2-pakhtakor-tashkent-fc-att.html 

Uzbekistan’s record goal-scorer Eldor Shomurodov ( 38 goals for 69 matches ) plays in Serie A for Cagliari on loan from Roma, but missed the Asian Cup through injury.

Matchday Information

The match was being played in the 44,325 capacity Al Janoub Stadium in Al-Wakrah, which is home to Qatar Stars League side Al-Wakrah SC. Seven matches in the 2021 World Cup were played in the stadium, and this was the 5^th out of 6 scheduled to be played in this Asian Cup.

The weather at the 14.30 local time kick-off ( 11.30 UK ) was sunny and 24 degrees. Today, the roof was mostly covered and the air-conditioning inside the stadium was on !

 

Bet365.com, who live streamed the match, made Uzbekistan 11/20 favourites, with Thailand at 5/1 with the draw at 3/1.

Uzbekistan made four changes to their starting line-up against Australia, with Masharipov, Turgunboev, Kushanov and Kholmatov coming into the side. Shukurov and Sergeev were not even on the bench, through illness and injury respectively.

Thailand made 8 changes from their side that started against Saudi Arabia, where they rested some players having already been assured of a place in the last 16, and the referee was Nazmi Nasaruddin from Malaysia

Uzbekistan were in all white, whilst Thailand wore all blue, and a little confusingly nearly all the Thai players had their first names on the back of their shirts rather than their last names.

Highlights of matches in the AFC Asian Cup are available on www.the-afc.com as well as the AFC Asian Cup YouTube channel.

Match Report

Uzbekistan started at a high tempo, and with just over three minutes played Fayzullaev just failed to reach Kholmatov’s chip into the area when unmarked running through the centre of the Thailand defence.

Thailand’s first excursion into the Uzbekistan half saw Rungrath Phumichantuk’s cross blocked by Eshmurodov for a corner. The Uzbek defence saw the ball into their area off for another corner, and second time around, Dolah peeled away beyond the back post to create space for himself but could only head three or so feet wide of the post from about 10 yards out.

After 12 minutes Fayzullaev went down in a heap in the area after a challenge from Dolah when trying to reach Sayfiyev’s ball from the left, but the referee wasn’t impressed and play continued.

The first proper chance occurred in the 17^th minute when Urunov played a give and go with Masharipov on the 18 yard line to be put clear 8 yards from goal, but somehow he put his effort wide. Two minutes later, as several players stopped expecting a foul to be given on Khamrobekov just outside the Thai area, Urunov played on but shot narrowly high and wide, with the ball taking a slight deflection off a Thai defender for a corner.

The one-way traffic continued as with 21 minutes on the clock, Thailand frittered away possession outside their area and Masharipov’s low shot from 25 yards was pushed around the post by keeper Khammai. When the corner was partially cleared, Khamrobekov’s left footer from just inside the area went narrowly wide.

After 25 minutes, Masharipov’s astute pass released Sayfiyev on the left and the ball into the area found Uranov with his back to goal, and after twice twisting and turning inside the Thai area, Uranov could only eventually shoot straight at the Thai keeper. Shortly after, Kholmatov’s long range effort  was another regulation save for the Thai keeper.

At the other end, some neat first time passes required Kushanov to make a sliding tackle to prevent Phumichantuk getting a crossing in from the right-hand by-line.  Yusupov’s Superman dive to punch the corner completely missed the ball, but Uzbekistan were able to clear the danger.

Uzbekistan scored the opening goal in the 37^th minute. Kholmatov’s lovely ball into the area floated over the head of Bunmathan for Turgunboev to chest control and then volley left-footed from 8 yards past Khammai. A super goal and 1-0 to Uzbekistan

Uzbekistan continued to pour forward, and four minutes later Kholmatov curled a 20 yard effort just wide after being teed up by Fayzullaev. Masharipov then set up Fayzullaev but his left footed shot from the edge of the area went just wide.

At the half-time interval, Uzbekistan deserved led, having had 10 attempts on goal with 4 on target, compared to Thailand having just one off-target header. Uzbekistan’s fast passing and movement had impressed, whilst Thailand had looked neat in possession, but had posed next to no threat.

Thailand made two changes for the start of the second half, bringing on the brothers Muenta and Sarachat for Kanitsribampen and Charoenrattanapirom, no doubt much to the commentators’ relief !

The introduction of Sarachat almost had an immediate impact as his through ball found Phumichantuk in space, but after cutting back inside, his shot from the edge of the area was blocked by an Uzbek defender.

However, Uzbekistan were soon pressing again, and neat interplay between Urunov and Fayzullaev, ended with Urunov’s effort being deflected over for a corner.

There didn’t seem to be much danger as Sarachat ran from mid-way inside the Uzbek half and received a pass back from Chaided, but his hopeful 25+ yard curling attempt bounced under the diving Yusupov and into the corner of the net. To use the cliché, Yusupov would have been disappointed by his effort. 1-1 after 58 minutes.

Thailand attacked again almost immediately after the restart, but Muenta’s effort lacked power and Yusupov gratefully saved.

Parity didn’t last for long though. Masharipov’s short pass found Fayzullaev with his back to goal just outside the penalty area, but Hemviboon backed off and allowed him to take two touches, turn and then fire a low shot into the bottom corner. 2-1 to Uzbekistan with 64 minutes played.

Needing to score to stay in the competition, Thailand started to enjoy the majority of the possession, but made little headway against a solid Uzbekistan defence as the White Wolves seemed to content to sit back on hold onto what they had. Despite winning a couple of corners, Thailand were struggling to lay a glove on the Uzbeks, although Sarachat might have done better getting on the end of one corner, and Bunmathan’s left-wing cross was just too high for Chaidad.

The only yellow card of the game was shown in the 87^th minute when Kushanov was adjudged to have fouled Chaidad 30 yards out, when in fact the Thai striker was coming back from an offside position so the free-kick should have been the other way ! Apart from this though, the Malaysian referee had an excellent game, and allowed the game to flow as much as possible. The free-kick from Sarachat lacked power and Yusupov made an easy save.

In the second of seven added on minutes, Dolah rose the highest to meet Bunmathan’s free-kick from close to the left-hand touchline, but his header sailed a foot over the bar, and Yusupov appeared to have it covered.

In the 5^th minute of injury time, Erkinov ran most of the length of the field, but lost control of the ball inside the Thai penalty area. Khammai’s clearance was poor and went straight to Kholmatov, but after bringing the ball down the first-time effort from the Uzbek midfielder went a yard or so wide of the post.

At the final whistle, Uzbekistan had held on to achieve the victory their play over the whole game had merited. They now face hosts Qatar in the quarter final and will no doubt be wary of both the cynical play of the Qataris, and a tendency for the hosts to be on the end of some favourable decisions.

Thailand bowed out of the competition having given a good account of themselves, but ultimately lacked a cutting edge against higher ranked opposition.

Highlights : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dcysVulcpz8

Uzbekistan : Yusupov – Kushanov, Eshmurodov, Ashurmatov - Turgunboev ( Abdurahmatov ), Khamrobekov, Kholmatov, Masharipov ( Iskanderov ), Sayfiyev – Urunov ( Erkinov ), Fayzullaev ( Boltaboev )

Thailand : Khammai – Mickelson, Dolah, Hemviboon, Bunmathan – Phumichantuk ( Promsrikaew ), Yooyen ( Chamratsamee ), Kanitsribampen ( Muenta ) , Pomphan ( Autra ), Charoenrattanapirom ( Sarachat ) - Chaided

 

FC AGMK 0-2 Pakhtakor Tashkent FC ( att : 2,235 ) – 2022 Uzbekistan Super League

September 15, 2022

This is these diaries' third report on football in Uzbekistan, coming after a review of the 2020 Super League season, and a relegation battle in 2021 between Mash'Al Mubarek and Andijon, both of whom were ultimately relegated.

https://fatbearssportingdiaries.blogspot.com/2020/12/review-of-2020-uzbekistan-super-league.html 

https://fatbearssportingdiaries.blogspot.com/2021/09/fk-mashal-mubarek-0-1-pfk-andijon-att-0.html 

Pakhtakor won the 2020 Uzbekistan Super League by a margin of 12 points to claim their 13^th title, ahead of Nasaf Qarshi and AGMK. Pakhtakor then suffered the loss of several key players, with influential midfield play-maker Jololiddin Masharipov leaving to join Saudi side Al Nasr, national striker Igor Sergeev went to Kazakhstan and is now at Tobol, and Swiss forward Eren Derdiyok moved to Ankaragucu.

Georgian Coach Shota Arveladze also left, and is now at Hull City, resulting in his assistant, ex-Dutch international Pieter Huistra taking over what appeared to be a much-weakened squad. Despite this, Pakhtakor went on to record their 14th title, with an increased margin of 13 points, this time ahead of Sogdiana and AGMK. Veteran Serbian striker Dragan Ceran followed up being the league’s top scorer in 2020 with 20 goals, by winning the golden boot for the third time with 16 goals in 2021. During a mid-season injury crisis, Pakhtakor were reduced to playing winger Sherzad Temirov as a make-shift striker, with the experiment bearing fruit with 8 goals, to earn Temirov a first international cap and a transfer to Iranian giants Persepolis.

Prior to the start of 2022, coach Huistra left his position to be replaced by North Macedonian Slavce Vojneski. However, after a poor AFC Champions League campaign and a series of draws in the league, Vojneski was shown the door, with record goal scorer for national side and all-time Uzbek legend Maksim Shatskikh appointed as the successor. Shatskikh was part of the Uzbekistan side that I saw defeat Bangladesh 6-0 in the UAE in 1999, where he scored two goals.

Shatskikh’s second match in charge was a 0-3 home derby defeat against Bunyodkor, but they regrouped and have embarked on a run of 7 games without defeat going into today’s match.

Pakhtakor’s starting XI today included 6 current members of the Uzbekistan national squad, plus keeper Kuvvartov who has won 7 caps, with the rest of the line-up made of Ceran, ex-Widzew Lodz and Gornik Leczna Polish forward Przemyslaw Banaszak, ex Aluminij and Maribor Montenegrin centre-back Illja Martinovic ( 3 caps ) and under 21 centre-back Shakhzod Azmiddinov. Ukrainian journeyman centre-back Olexsandr Nasonov was on the bench. Transfermrkt rated midfielder Odiljon Khamrobekov  ( 26 caps ) as their most valuable player at 900K Euros.

AGMK play in the city of Olmaliq, which has a population of around 130,000 and is located 70km south-east of the capital Tashkent, an estimated journey of 1 hour 20 minutes by road. With the main industry in the area being the extraction of copper, lead, zinc, gold, silver and barite, the football side are known as The Miners. Home is the 12,000 capacity OKMK Sport Majmvasi.

AGMK’s captain is Sanzhar Tursunov, who in a long career has won 49 caps and played for a number of clubs including Nizhny Volvograd in Russia, Ukrainian side Vorskla Poltava and Daejeon Citizen in South Korea. Ex-Dinamo Tbilisi central midfielder Giorgi Papava has 3 caps for Georgia, Dan Spataru has 22 caps for Moldova and has played for Zimbru and Milsami-Orhei in his home country and Noah and Ararat-Armenia in Armenia, and Tajikistan International Alisher Dzhailov has represented his country 13 times. Italian striker Martin Boakye has played for Slaven Belupo in Slovenia and Andijon in Uzbekistan.

There were two other former Uzbek internationals in the AGMK starting line-up, keeper Botirali Ergashev had one cap, whilst left-back Akramjon Komilov had played 8 times for his country.

The 2022 Super League is a much more competitive league than in the past couple of seasons, with the top 5 separated by only three points, with Pakhtakor, Nasaf, Sogdiana, Navbahor and Qizilqum all in the running, with no side seemingly so far capable of putting together a winning run to pull clear of the pack, and regularly dropping points from matches they might have been expected to comfortably win.

Pakhtakor started the day in second place on goal-difference behind Nasaf Qarshi, with AGMK 6 points behind in 6^th place. AGMK had the second-best home record in the Division, having garnered 17 points from 9 matches, with two defeats coming at the hands of Navbahor and Metallurg. Along with Qizilqum, with 18 goals they were the joint highest scorers at home. On the other hand, Pakhtakor had the second-best away record, being unbeaten in 10 games on the road and with 5 wins. Their problems has been winning matches at home.

All Super League matches this season are being shown live on the YouTube Sport telekanali – Rasmiy channel. Matches are also being streamed on the Eleven Sports channel, although this coverage has just one camera, making it difficult to make out the player’s numbers, and the picture is prone to freezing from time to time. Highlights are available on the Championatasia and PFL Uzbeksitan YouTube channels.

Bet365.com made Pakhtakor 6/4 favourites, with AGMK at 2/1 and the draw at 17/10. Temperature at the 19.00 local time kick-off ( 15.00 UK time ) was around 29 degrees with the weather dry.

AGMK wore a kit of all blue, whilst Pakhtakor were in a tasteful change kit of all white but with blue bands on the bottom half of the front of the shirt.

AGMK created a half chance in the 10^th minute, but after a good run and cross from Giyosov, Mirakhmadov could only head weakly high over the bar. Pakhtakor responded with a nice move, as Khamrobekov made a strong run from midfield and found Khamdamov on the edge of the AGMK area. A smart reverse pass put Alijonev on goal in the right-hand channel, but his shot to the near post was saved at the second attempt by Ergashev.

The AGMK keeper had to be alert again in the 24^th minute when an attempted clearance of a cross from the left struck Pakhtakor forward Banaszak and looped towards the goal, for Ergashev to grab out of the air.

AGMK’s first shot on target occurred in the 34^th minutes as Mirakhmadov make a decent run down the right and fed Haghnazari, but the shot lacked power and keeper Kuvvartov was able to get down and easily save.

Pakhtakor should have opened the scoring in the 36^th minute. A fine left-wing cross was well defended at the expense of a corner to prevent Banaszak having a free header at the back post. Sobirkhodjaev’s set-piece found Azmiddinov unmarked 6 yards out but he horribly mis-timed his header with the goal at his mercy. As the young defender put his head in his hands and everyone seemed to stop, Banaszak played the ball back into the danger zone, but after a couple of deflections, Ergashev dived to claim the loose ball.

Pakhtakor had started to look the better side with their neat passing catching the eye, but AGMK finished the half strongly. Tursunov was too strong in the tackle with Alijonov to win possession after a pass from the increasingly prominent Haghnazari, but sent his right-footed drive a few inches wide from the edge of the area. Then a swift 2 on 1 counter attack was squandered by a poor pass from Giyosov failing to pick out the unmarked Haghnazari.

Two minutes before the interval Pakhtakor had another good chance from a corner but Martinovic and Azmiddinov got in each other’s way, resulting in Azmiddinov’s header under pressure from his team-mate going well over.

There was still time for one more chance for the visitors. After Turgunbaev’s scissor-kick was blocked, Khamrobekov was teed up but could only shoot over from 18 yards.

Both sides made changes at the interval, with Pakhtakor bringing on Nasonov and Azamov, whilst AGMK introduced striker Boakye.

The Miners had the first shot on target in the second period. After Abdullayev had shot wide from 25 yards in the first minute of the half, Haghnazari’s superb turn near half-way gave him space to pick out Boakye, and the Italian sped towards goal. Although being pushed out wide he managed to get a strong shot in, but it was too close to Kuvvartov, who was able to push away for a corner. From the following set piece, Tursunov reacted to a half-clearance but his first time snap shot sailed a few feet over.

However, it was Pakhtakor who scored the first goal of the encounter following a fine move in the 54^th minute. Turgunbaev and Sobirkhodjaev combined well to take play towards the AGMK area, and although a cross was partially cleared, Turgunbaev picked up the loose ball and played a first time pass to Ceran with his back to the goal. Although the return pass went beyond Turgunbaev, it found Sobirkhodjaev whose swerving run beat a couple of defenders inside the area to get a sight of goal from close range, but his left-footed attempt was blocked by Ergashev. Turgunbaev’s follow-up inside the 6 yard box was blocked by Ismailov virtually on the line, but after a bit of a scramble the loose ball fell to right-back Alijonov, who swept home left-footed through a crowd of players from 6 yards.

 

For a few minutes Pakhtakor threatened to run away with the match, and a surging run from Turgunbaev was only halted by a brutal challenge that the referee deemed didn’t even merit a yellow card.  

AGMK though soon got back into the match and had a dominant spell as they went in search of the equalizer. In the 62^nd minute, Giyosov ran past two defenders to spread wide to Akhmadaliev, and his reverse pass found the overlapping Rakhmanov. However, rather than going for goal he attempted to find the unmarked Boakye, but the low cross was intercepted and cleared.

Two minutes later another spell of pressure saw Akhmadaliev’s pull-back from the by-line find Haghnazari on the angle of the 6 yard box. The midfielder was crowded out, and the ball played back to Tursunov 20 yards out, but his attempt went a few yards wide and just beyond the lurking Boayke.

In the 66^th minute the Miners were lucky to keep 11 players on the pitch. As the ball rolled out of play for a throw-in, Abdullayev made a sly kick at Banaszak. Predictably the Polish striker went to ground, rolling on the floor, and it was probably this gross over-reaction that save the AGMK player from seeing the red card.

16 minutes from time another piece of vision from Haghnazari found Spataru in oceans of space on the right wing, but the Moldovan substitute’s cross deflected off Khamrobekov, hit Boakye on the chest and went wide from a few feet out.

After 30 minutes of constant pressure, the home side shot themselves in the foot with 6 minutes remaining. A pass from Papava to Ismailov was poorly under-hit and Ceran was able to get there first and poke past the centre-back, leaving the Serbian the straight-forward task of advancing on goal and sliding the ball past the keeper to clinch the three points for the visitors.

Ceran should then have added a third for his side with three minutes left on the clock, but one on one with Ergashev after being picked out by Jabborov, his attempted chip struck the keeper’s chest to go off for a corner.  From the subsequent corner, the Serb headed wide from a good position.

With AGMK on the ropes, a swift counter saw Ceran have options to both his left and right, but his pass was hit beyond Fayzullayev enabling Ergashev to gather, and then from another swift move down the left, Sayfiyev’s excellent cross found Ceran inside the penalty box, but the Serb’s control let him down. In between, Haghnazari hit the deck when attempting to dribble past Azmiddinov but failed to impress the referee.

There was still time for AGMK’s Kosimov to fire a 20 yard effort a few feet wide in the final minute of added on time. In truth it was a strange final 10 minutes to the match, going from a good chance of  finishing 1-1 but it could easily have ended 0-4 !

With this victory Pakhtakor moved to the top of the table although they would be overtaken should Nasaf win their home match over struggling Kokand 1912. However, with their unbeaten run now extending to 8 matches, Pakhtakor are slowly looking favourites to retain their title again. AGMK remained in a disappointing 6^th place.

FC AGMK : Ergashev – Akhmadaliev, Rakhmanov, Ismailov, Komilov ( Gadoev ) – Abdullayev ( Spataru ), Papava, Haghnazari – Tursunov ( Kosimov ), Mirakhmadov ( Boakye ), Giyosov ( Dzhailov )

Pakhtakor Tashkent : Kuvvartov – Alijonov, Azmiddinov, Martinovic ( Nasonov ), Sayfiyev – Sobirkhodjaev, Khamdamov ( Azamov ), Khamrobekov, Turgunbaev ( Fayzullayev ) – Ceran ( Kholmatov ), Banaszak ( Jabborov )  

Highlights : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cmxz0_4mSCA