Tajikistan reached the top 8 of the Asian Cup, and the national football team played a key role?

Participated in the Asian Cup for the first time, reached the knockout round of the Asian Cup for the first time, and reached the top 8 of the Asian Cup for the first time.

The Tajikistan team completed all three historic breakthroughs in 16 days.

However, this is not the end of the story, as they will play in the quarter-finals of the Asian Cup.

Judging from the previous performance, Tajikistan's further breakthrough into the top 4 is by no means a dream.

Tajikistan advances to the top 8 -

Tajikistan finished second in Group A and the UAE finished second in Group C, and the two group runners-up can meet in the first round of the knockout round, which is also a special feature of the current format.

These two teams met in the 1/8 finals, which was good luck for both sides.

If you look at the world rankings, player value and past results of both sides, the UAE is clearly better than Tajikistan.

But the performance of the two sides in this Asian Cup can be described as equal.

Both teams have a record of 1 win, 1 draw and 1 loss with 4 points, Tajikistan scored 2 goals and conceded 2 goals, and the UAE scored 5 goals and conceded 4 goals.

When it came to the head-to-head meeting in the 1/8 finals, Tajikistan also proved that they were no worse than their opponents.

The UAE are theoretically the superior side, with higher possession and ostensibly more aggressive play.

However, Tajikistan defended solidly, counter-attacked sharply, and got better scoring opportunities.

In the 30th minute of the game, Tajikistan scored first. Yurabayev passed accurately, and Hanonov topped beautifully.

Although the UAE team is not the favorite to win the championship, they must not be willing to fall at the feet of the Tajikistan team.

It wasn't until the 95th minute that the UAE equalised with a free-kick.

Neither side could achieve anything in extra-time and could only go to a brutal penalty shoot-out.

Tajikistan made all five free throws first, while the UAE made only three of the first four.

The game is over, Tajikistan advances!

It is worth mentioning that Tajikistan coach Shegert is a Croatian.

What level the Croatians play penalty shootouts, everyone understands.

If the UAE takes this into account, it should do everything in its power to avoid a penalty shootout.

If you don't watch the game process, some fans may think that Tajikistan is relying on "putting a bus + stealing chickens" to drag the game to a penalty shootout.

However, the reality was quite the opposite, and if it weren't for the poor effort of the Tajik players, the game would not have had to go to extra time and penalty shootouts.

Tajikistan's elimination of the UAE was, judging from the result, an upset, but judging from the process, it was not cold at all.

It's time for us to let go of old impressions and take a fresh look at the quality of the Tajikistan team.

Accident, not accident -

When Tajikistan drew with the national football team in the first round of the group stage, the main focus of fans was on "how bad the national football team played", but few people cared about "how well Tajikistan played".

When Tajikistan advanced to the knockout round by finishing second in the group, fans were mainly saddened by the national football team's exit, but few people were surprised by Tajikistan's advancement.

When it came time to predict the outcome of the 1/8 finals, everyone was talking about Saudi Arabia, South Korea, Japan, Iran, ...... As for Tajikistan, few people cared and few thought they could win.

Looking back now, Tajikistan has played at a relatively high level in every game in this Asian Cup.

In the first game, Tajikistan drew 0-0 with the national football team.

We were disappointed with the draw and were not satisfied with just one point as they had a 20-10 advantage in shots on goal.

In the second game, Tajikistan lost 0-1 to Qatar.

Including stoppage time, Tajikistan scored one fewer man in the final 20 minutes. It's not easy to lose by just one goal.

In the third, Tajikistan defeated Lebanon 2-1.

It was a life-and-death battle for the group qualification, conceding 1 goal and then chasing 2 goals, both goals occurred after the 80th minute, which was thrilling.

In the fourth game, Tajikistan 1-1 UAE (penalty 5-3).

These opponents of Tajikistan -

China, Lebanon and the United Arab Emirates are all teams that entered the top 12 of the Asian zone of the last World Preliminary Championship.

Qatar do not have to participate in the last World Preliminary Tournament, but as the defending champions of the Asian Cup, they are only as strong as the other three teams.

Occasionally, one or two games are played well, which is accidental, and if you play well in four games in a row, it is inevitable.

At least in this Asian Cup, the strength shown by the Tajikistan team is already at the "top 12 level".

Judging from the performance on the field, Tajikistan reached the top 8 of the Asian Cup, which cannot be said to be too surprising.

Is the national football team critical?

When we evaluate the strength of a team, we sometimes pay too much attention to the "factual basis" such as player value, world ranking, and historical records, but it is easy to ignore the strength of a team, which can also change at any time.

Before the start of this Asian Cup, Tajikistan was ranked 106th in the world and had never qualified for the Asian Cup finals, nor did it reach the round of 12 in the last World Preliminary Tournament.

At that time, they were treated as a weak team, and there was nothing wrong with it.

If the state of the national football team is normal, Tajikistan will suffer a defeat in the first game, and maybe the "dark horse" will not appear later.

But the reality is that the national football team has opened the road of "fighting monsters and upgrading" in Tajikistan.

No matter how we think of the national football team, I believe that in the eyes of the Tajikistan team, the draw with the national football team is still very morale-boosting.

After a draw with the national football team and a small defeat to Qatar, then Lebanon and the United Arab Emirates will not be afraid of it next.

Even in the quarterfinals, whether it is Iraq or Jordan, it is not necessarily more terrible than the previous opponents.

Tajikistan's participation in the semi-finals of the Asian Cup is really not wishful thinking.

Tajikistan itself continues to improve, and at the same time encounters favorable factors of "good luck + friendly competition + sluggish opponents".

Therefore, in this Asian Cup, they have achieved good results step by step, and have also gained valuable experience and confidence.

I remember that in the 2011 Asian Cup, the statement of the national football team "training the team" caused a lot of controversy.

Should an important event like the Asian Cup be used to "train the team"?

How meaningful is it if the workout is good?

The performance of Tajikistan this time can provide us with a reference.

Before the Asian Cup, Tajikistan may be weak when facing teams like the United Arab Emirates and Qatar, but after this Asian Cup, Tajikistan may not be afraid of these teams.

But how do you achieve that effect?

Thirteen years ago, we participated in the Asian Cup to "train the team", but the training effect was obviously not very good.

Personally, I think that the key to training the team is not how many players are rotated, but the quality of the game.

In the Asian Cup, the quality of the matches will be higher the further you go.

Therefore, if you want to get a real workout in the Asian Cup, you need to go all out to win every game so that you can get more workouts.

Tajikistan is on such a path.

If you go to the competition with the attitude of training the team, you may not get real training.

Playing with an all-out attitude is more likely to achieve the effect of exercise.

Do you agree?