29 January 2024
Tajikistan, ranked 106th in the world and at their first Asian Cup, will now face either Jordan or Iraq in the quarter-final, after beating UAE on penalty kicks who reached the semi-finals at the last two Asian Cups.
As their performances in the group stage meant there were less who were assuming it would be a straightforward outing for UAE on Sunday, Tajikistan had already proved all expectations by reaching the round of 16. Tajikistan’s coach Petar Segrt called his team “the black horses of the tournament” and said “nobody knows how far we can go”.
