On December 15, a wave of passion about the Asian Cup quietly heated up on Soccer Daily, an in-depth report unveiling the first match of the Asian Cup opponent Tajikistan came to the forefront.
Just yesterday, the Tajikistan national team announced its 27-man squad for the Asian Cup, of which 24 were selected on November 36, with new defender Imonazarov and midfield duo Shukurov and Tusunov in the spotlight.
Tajikistan soccer has made remarkable achievements in the field of youth training in recent years, with a youthful trend in the team coached by Croatian-born coach Šegot. In the roster, the only players over the age of 30 are defenders A. Nazarov, K. Nazarov and veteran midfielder Galilov, while there are 12 young players under the age of 23, eight of whom are even under the age of 21.
It is noteworthy that there are 10 study abroad players on this list, with strikers Soylov, Samiev, central midfielder Umarbayev and A. Juraboev all playing overseas. It is worth noting that the domestic team Dushanbe independently contributes 10 players, becoming the backbone of the Tajikistan national team.
Meanwhile, Tajikistan's national team also boasts four naturalized Russian players, with veteran midfielder A. Galilov, who played for Russia's national team in the U17-U21 age group and was naturalized four years ago, and Umarbayev, who was a member of Russia's U18 national youth team and completed his naturalization eight years ago.
