In the end, Azizbek Turgunboev’s 78th-minute equaliser felt like cosmic justice for Uzbekistan. Sprinting in from his position on the right, the 29-year-old soared to meet a ball lofted in by Jaloliddin Masharipov, rising, fairly, over the top of Aziz Behich and giving Maty Ryan no chance of keeping the ball from nestling into the back of the net. It ensured that the White Wolves would progress as the second-placed finisher in group B, advancing alongside the top-of-the-tree Socceroos, who topped the standings after Tuesday evening’s 1-1 draw at the Al Janoub stadium in Qatar.
It also ensured that the Uzbeks would be rewarded for a performance in which they were the better side across the 90 minutes, and prevented Martin Boyle’s controversial penalty in first-half stoppage from proving the difference. Because never was a round of applause delivered with more contempt than the ovation Uzbekistan coach Srečko Katanec gave the fourth official in the moments before the Scottish-born Socceroo drilled a penalty into the bottom corner of the net, sending Utkir Yusupov the wrong way and converting the game’s only shot on target.
Katanec’s side were in the ascendancy at that point, stifling the Socceroos’ attempts to fashion looks on goal and increasingly keying in opportunities to break from their disciplined defensive shape, pounce on wayward passes and stream forward with the numbers and intent that harkened to their White Wolves nickname. In the minutes prior, a desperate last-ditch sliding challenge from Harry Souttar had been the only thing standing between Otabek Shukurov and driving in a dangerous shot at Ryan’s goal.
Palestine and Syria qualified for the knockout stages of the Asian Cup for the first time on Tuesday with victories in their last group matches.
Palestine wrapped up their Group C campaign in style with a 3-0 win over Hong Kong after Oday Dabbagh grabbed a double, securing their spot in the last-16 as one of the four best third-placed teams.
Iran won the group after beating the United Arab Emirates 2-1 to finish with nine points. Palestine were on course to finish second when Iran led UAE 2-0. But an injury-time goal from UAE's Yahya Al-Ghassani pushed Palestine back to third on goal difference after both teams finished with four points. Palestine opened the scoring when Dabbagh powered home a header under pressure in the 12th minute while Zeid Qunbar doubled the lead with a header across goal. Dabbagh then got his second when he was in the right place at the right time to tap in a rebound when Tamer Seyam saw his curling strike come back off the crossbar. Hong Kong had the opportunity to score a consolation goal when they were awarded a penalty after a VAR check but Everton Camargo's spot-kick came off the bar. Mehdi Taremi scored twice for Iran in their victory, with both goals assisted by Sardar Azmoun either side of halftime.
Al-Ghassani had seen a penalty saved earlier by Iran keeper Alireza Beiranvand but the UAE forward found the bottom corner in the 93rd minute for the crucial goal that moved them back to second to qualify despite the defeat. Reuters
But now they were about to go down, falling afoul of a VAR intervention that adjudged Odiljon Hamrobekov to have handled the ball in the penalty area as he tried to slide in and dispossess Kusini Yengi. Replays showed that the contact with the 27-year-old’s arm came as it provided support to his bodyweight as he challenged the Socceroo striker – contact not enough to stop him from skipping onward and delivering the ball to an open Riley McGree at the top of the box.
By the letter of the law, it may have been correct. Even if the arm was supporting and it was completely unintentional, it still technically was creating a barrier between Yengi and the goal. The Socceroos could also perhaps argue that it was the karmic scales re-balancing after Umar Eshmurodov had escaped VAR upgrading his yellow card to a red after seemingly denying Boyle a clear goalscoring opportunity on the counter in the 25th. But it still would have been an incredibly harsh way to lose a game.
With a new level of feeling in the game, Masharipov flashed a lethal-looking free kick just wide of Ryan’s goal in the 50th minute as Australia increasingly sat off with their lead before Eshmurodov had a headed effort chalked off for offside ten minutes later after being just unable to time his run to beat Australia’s offside trap from a free kick. And when the goal did arrive, the Uzbeks were good value for it, having kept coming at the Australians and not allowing themselves to settle for a narrow defeat and scoreboard-watching.
Australia, again, hadn’t been very good with the ball. Creating just a single shot on target and struggling to find a connection in the final third. Their past 180 minutes of football, in fact, have produced a combined total of just two shots on target, only one of which was from open play and even that one, Jackson Irvine’s goal to secure a 1-0 win over Syria, came after a fortunate deflection fell to him.
In previous games, the talent gap and more conservative approaches from their opponents allowed the Socceroos to take the win anyway. Against a better quality side in Uzbekistan, however, a foe that didn’t just retreat into their shell, a lack of cohesion and inspiration in the final third was punished. A hint, perhaps, of what may await them in the knockout stages unless they can find their way.
