As China's first opponent in the 2023 Asian Cup, Tajikistan will re-centralize in Dushanbe, Tajikistan on May 29 local time in preparation for the first Central Asian Cup of Nations soccer tournament in Uzbekistan in the middle of next month.On May 27, the Tajikistan Football Association (TFA) announced a new 26-player training roster for the team. The CFA and China will also use this Central Asian Cup to further gather and master information about their opponents.
According to the group stage draw for the 2023 Asian Cup finals produced on May 11, China is tied with Qatar, Lebanon and Tajikistan. According to the calendar, China will play its first match in the group stage against Tajikistan on January 13 next year. National soccer team leader Shao Jiayi also admitted that the match against Tajikistan is the most important match in the group stage of the Asian Cup.
After the results of the grouping, the Chinese team began to make targeted preparations, in which collecting and understanding the information of the opponents is undoubtedly an important work. on May 27th, the Tajikistan Football Association announced the list of 26 players for the new round of men's football training. Similar to previous trainer call-ups, Tajikistan's new lineup still selected 11 players who are starters for domestic league champions Istiklol. More alarmingly for China, a total of 11 players from overseas clubs have been selected for the squad. Four of them play in the Uzbekistan Premier League, one in the Iranian and Indian leagues and one in Iran.
The growth of overseas forces has also gone some way to improving Tajikistan's international competitiveness. For example, they beat Russia 0-0 in an international warm-up match last November. In March this year, they drew 0-0 away to the UAE.
It is understood that 21 of the players selected for this edition of Tajikistan took part in the UAE tour in March. The five players joining the squad include old faces and newcomers. Tajikistan are scheduled to travel to Tashkent, Uzbekistan on May 31 in preparation for the first Central Asian Nations Cup. The schedule suggests that Tajikistan will play their first match in Turkmenistan on June 11th before challenging Oman on June 14th and then meeting hosts Uzbekistan on June 17th. If you finish in the top two in the group stage, you will play in the final qualifying round on June 20th. The Chinese team will also be following the tournament throughout.
