The team dedicated the victory to Emomali Rahmon, who today celebrates his birthday.
The youth team of Tajikistan (U-16), having beaten South Korea’s national team on October 4 (regular time 1:1, on penalties 7:6), reached the final of the 2018 Asian Championship, which takes place in Malaysia.
Already in the debut of the meeting our young men scored a goal. On the 2nd minute after a free-kick from the flank, the ball was locked by Ozodbek Panjiev. The answer of the Koreans followed in the 39th minute and also from the "standard". A feed from the corner locked Yun Suk Zhu. But the goals were over and none of the parties could not stand out anymore, according to the website of the Football Federation of Tajikistan.
At the end of normal time, according to the rules of the championship, a penalty shootout was assigned. All five attempts each team implemented exactly, and then followed by one hit on each side before the first error.
And it first on the seventh attempt allowed South Korea, more precisely – the goalkeeper of our team Mukhriddin Hasanov once again became a hero, having beaten off a penalty! And Muhammadrasul Lutfulloev with a precise blow sent the junior team of Tajikistan to the final of the Asian Championship, the first in the history of Tajik football.
In the first in their final Asian Championships, the youths of Tajikistan will play against their peers from Japan on Sunday, October 7, beginning at 20:45 hours local time (17:45 – Dushanbe).
National teams of Japan and Tajikistan have previously played in the group stage. Then the meeting ended in a goalless draw.
The head coach of the junior national team of Tajikistan (U-16) Zayniddin Rakhimov after the victorious match over South Korea in the semi-finals of the Asian Championship 2018 in Malaysia said that the team dedicates this victory to President Emomali Rahmon, who celebrates his birthday on October 5.
— We dedicate this victory to the President of our country, Emomali Rahmon, who has a birthday on October 5. The leader of our nation does a lot for the development of football in Tajikistan. I am very glad that we played very well today. I want to thank all the fans who came to the stadium and we were warmly supported throughout the match. Thanks to everyone who worried about us in our homeland. When we scored a quick goal, we tried to keep the score, but the opponent at the end of the first half managed to restore the balance. In the second half it was hard, but the guys showed character, fought to the end, fought for victory in every part of the field, “gnawed the ground” for the sake of achieving the result. As for the penalty shootout, this is a lottery. As in the previous match, goalkeeper Muhriddin Hasanov rescued us. Now we have two days to prepare for the final match of the Asian Championship against Japan. Will prepare carefully and fight for gold medals.
