Uzbekistan Men's Soccer Team defeated Saudi Arabia Men's Soccer Team 2-0 in the last 8 match of the U17 Asian Cup to catch the last train to the top four. Meanwhile, after 10 years, they returned to the final round of the World Youth Championship. After the match, the whole team celebrated wildly, as excited as winning the championship.
Saudi Arabia, one of Asia's traditional soccer powerhouses, has won three Asian Cup titles as well as the U17 World Junior Championship. Meanwhile, it is ranked in the top five in Asia after a resurgence in soccer standards in recent years.
In this year's Asian Junior Championships, Saudi Arabia won three consecutive first-place finishes with back-to-back victories over Australia, Tajikistan and the Chinese men's soccer team. For the ambition to return to the World Junior Championships, it now needs to pass the level of Uzbekistan first. The latter last played in the World Junior Championships in 2013, 10 years ago.
It is worth noting that the Uzbekistan men's soccer team has already won the Asian Cup at the U23 and U20 age levels and now aspires to win the title at the U17 age level.
Facing Saudi Arabia, the favorite to win the title, Uzbekistan was not optimistic before the match as there was a certain gap between the two teams, with Saudi Howe in significantly better form after three consecutive wins in the group stage. However, Uzbekistan defended very well in the game and did not give Saudi Arabia many threatening shots.
Just as the game was coming to an end, Uzbekistan suddenly broke the deadlock. A shot went through the Saudi goalkeeper's crotch, making the score 1-0. 5 minutes later, the Saudi backline conceded again. Uzbekistan finally won the match 2-0 to complete the cold game.
After the game, the entire Uzbekistan team celebrated wildly, with players from the bench running onto the pitch, members of the coaching staff celebrating with a group hug, and head coach Rakhmatullayev in tears of emotion.
The win not only puts Uzbekistan in the top four of the tournament, but also qualifies them for the 2023 World Junior Championships, the last team to do so. Statistically, Uzbekistan last played in the World Junior Championship in 2013, the first time they advanced to the knockout rounds at that time, and have now waited 10 years in a row.
With Uzbekistan's advancement, all of the quarterfinals of this year's Asian Cup have been announced, with the specific matches set to be Uzbekistan versus South Korea and Japan versus Iran.
In contrast to Uzbekistan, the Chinese men's soccer team U17 led by Yang Chen is not only out of the group, but also at the bottom of the rankings, with one draw and two losses in three group games.
