Alkass Digital
Uzbekistan took a huge step towards a second AFC U23 Asian Cup™ title after an impressive 2-0 quarter-final win over defending champions Saudi Arabia at Qatar 2024 on Friday but Khusain Norchaev has urged his teammates to forget the win and focus on their semi-final challenge.
The encounter at the Khalifa International Stadium was a rematch of the 2022 final but strikes from Norchaev and Umarali Rakhmonaliev ensured that it would be Uzbekistan celebrating at the final whistle this time around.
“Firstly, I dedicate the win to our Uzbekistan fans,” said Norchaev. “We will keep fighting to reach our target.
“Having played Saudi Arabia before, we were able to better analyse and prepare our strategies, which led to the win.”
A win against Indonesia in Monday’s semi-final would not only take Uzbekistan within one match of regaining the title they won in 2018 but also confirming their Paris Olympics spot and Norchaev said it is important to remember that.
“It’s definitely great to win against them, but it’s just the quarter-finals. We still need to prepare for two more matches. I believe we can do even more, and we will be prepared for those matches.”
Uzbekistan advanced to the semi-finals with a fourth consecutive win and no goals conceded, much to the delight of head coach Timur Kapadze.
“There were some tense moments during the match for both teams, but we kept our focus,” said Kapadze. “Defence starts from the strikers, so it’s not just our defenders but a team effort in getting these clean sheets.”
As Uzbekistan turn their attention to Indonesia, Kapadze said he will do his homework on the debutant Southeast Asian side who stunned 2020 champions Korea Republic in their quarter-final.
"We have only been focusing on this match against Saudi Arabia. We, however, watched Indonesia’s match against Korea Republic, and they showed that they can perform against big teams.
“So from now onwards, we will begin analysing and preparing for them accordingly."