On April 27, Beijing time, in the 1/4 finals of the U23 Asian Cup, the defending champion Saudi Arabia faced the previous champion Uzbekistan. Kusa sealed his throat with a sword, Umali sealed the victory, and Uzbekistan defeated 10-man Saudi Arabia 2-0 to advance to the semifinals, successfully avenging the defeat in the last final, and Saudi Arabia stopped from the Paris Olympics. Uzbekistan will compete with Indonesia for a place in the final, with the winners of both teams qualifying directly for the Olympics.
Defending champions Saudi Arabia started the tournament high and low, scoring nine goals to beat Tajikistan and Thailand in the first two rounds of the group stage, but the team also had hidden problems in defence, conceding two goals in the final round and losing to Iraq to lose the top spot in the group. On the other hand, Uzbekistan scored 10 goals without conceding a goal in the three rounds of the group stage, swept Malaysia, Kuwait and Vietnam, and easily won the top spot in the group.
Both teams have won the Asian Cup and are favourites to win the tournament, having met in the final of the last Asian Cup, with Saudi Arabia winning 2-0. In this competition, the two teams met in advance in the quarterfinals, repeating the last final, whether Uzbekistan successfully took revenge or suffered a double kill, which became the biggest highlight of the game.
The two sides are familiar with each other without too much temptation at the beginning, and it is a high-intensity physical confrontation at the beginning. Uzbekistan had a slight advantage in possession and a stronger attack, constantly attacking the two flanks to open up space. Saudi Arabia played a tough stance, pressing high in the midfield, and did not hesitate to stop the opponent's attacking organization at the cost of fouls and yellow cards. It was basically a back-and-forth battle, but both sides struggled to deliver threatening shots in the final third.
The two teams picked up the tempo in the second half of the half, with Saudi Arabia forcing a free-kick opportunity in the middle and Eide firing a powerful shot into the near corner from 30 yards. Uzbekistan quickly responded with a long ball from a set-piece, and Kusa was knocked down by the goalkeeper as he received a team-mate's ferry into the box, and the referee signalled for offside. Uzbekistan strengthened the high press, forced the ball in the front field in the 47th minute, Faizulaev kicked the ball to create a killing chance, Kusa forced to break away and put on a wonderful show, stepped on the goalkeeper with his left foot, and quickly pushed the empty goal with his right foot to lead 1-0.
The trailing Saudi Arabia quickly counter-attacked, but it was difficult to penetrate into the penalty area, and Abdullah's long-range shot in the box was not too threatening. Uzbekistan continued to exploit their physical advantage to create chances, and in the 56th minute, Slanbek fended off a defender and dribbled to the edge of the penalty area and fired a cold shot just wide of the far post. Both teams didn't have many shots on goal in the first half, only five combined, and both sides spent a lot of energy fighting for the ball in midfield, with Saudi Arabia having a few shots that didn't pose much of a threat, and Uzbekistan's two-footed shots were of higher quality and more capable of seizing opportunities.
Saudi Arabia returned to the second half to strengthen their personal dribbling breakthroughs and long-range shots, wingback Haussavi dribbled the ball on the left side and rushed into the penalty area to be intercepted by multiple people. Abdullah and Yahya had two ultra-long shots wide of the target. Uzbekistan deliberately slowed down the tempo, and Saudi Arabia continued to press fiercely and constantly take down opponents, making the game seriously lacking fluidity.
In the 70th minute, Yahya intercepted a foul in the backfield and received the second yellow card and was sent off. Faizulaev free-kick arcs into the neutral post and bounces off. Saudi Arabia, which has one less person, frequently pressed, and the overall formation pressed exposed the vacancy in the backfield, Uzbekistan took the opportunity to instigate many counterattacks and fast attacks, and in the 84th minute, Abdullaef's long-range shot from outside the penalty area was saved, and Umali, who came on as a substitute, followed up with an offside follow-up shot to seal the win 2-0.
The defensive action on both sides was very big, and the game was full of gunpowder. In 16 minutes of stoppage time, Uzbekistan's solid defense did not have a chance to counterattack with Saudi Arabia, but took advantage of Saudi Arabia's eagerness to attack and continuously counterattack to create danger. At the end of the game, Uzbekistan defeated the defending champion 2-0 to advance to the semifinals.