The quarter-finals of the U23 Asian Cup ushered in a heavyweight contest between Central Asian powerhouse Uzbekistan and West Asian powerhouse Saudi Arabia.
In the group stage, Uzbekistan played well and won the group with a proud record of three consecutive wins, while Saudi Arabia advanced to the quarterfinals with 2 wins and 1 loss in the group stage. In the last 2 meetings between the two sides, the Saudi team won 2-1 and beat the Uzbekistan team to have the upper hand, so more than half of the fans believed that the Saudi team could beat the Uzbekistan team before the game.
In the 45+3rd minute, Faizulaev sent a wonderful pass, and Norchaev followed up with the ball on the right side of the penalty area, shook the opponent's goalkeeper and fired a low shot into the empty goal to give Uzbekistan the lead.
In the 71st minute, Yahya received a second yellow card and was expelled from the game, and the Saudi team could only play with 10 men!
In the 85th minute, Rakhmonaliev scored with a header to help Uzbekistan extend its lead.
In the end, the Saudi Arabian team lost to the Uzbekistan team and was eliminated from the semi-finals of the U23 Asian Cup, and the Saudi team also completely missed the Paris Olympics. In the next semi-finals, Uzbekistan eliminated South Korea's Indonesian team with PK.
Obviously, Uzbekistan's elimination of Saudi Arabia and Indonesia in the semi-finals has subverted the tradition of Asian football, and we will definitely see a team we are not familiar with on the stage of the final, and one of the Indonesian team and Uzbekistan team will appear in the Paris Olympics!