Footballers of «Arkadag» made it to the 1/8 finals of the AFC-2 Champions League, taking second place in Group «B». This was determined following the final group stage matches.
Heading into the final, 6th round of Group «B», all four teams were in contention for two spots in the next stage of the competition. They were «Al Ahli» of Qatar, leading with 7 points, followed by «Al Haldiya» of Bahrain (6 points), «Andijan» of Uzbekistan (5 points), and «Arkadag», who were at the bottom of the table with 4 points.
The most difficult task of the four was for the current champion of Turkmenistan, who needed to win their home match against «Al-Haldiya» while «Andijan» was obliged to lose or draw in their away match against «Al-Ahli» of Qatar.
«Al-Haldiya» was the only team in this quartet to beat «Arkadag» 2-0 at home in the first round. With this defeat in mind, the men of Vladimir Bayramov were aiming for revenge, which, with a favourable outcome in the parallel match in Qatar, would have advanced the Turkmen club to the next stage of the AFC-2 Champions League.
The vice-champion of Bahrain also had no intention of giving in, as the head coach of «Al-Haldiya», 64-year-old Tunisian specialist Lassaad Chabbi, announced at the pre-match press conference.
«There are no injuries on our team. All players are ready to play. We are counting on a positive result», − said L. Chubby.
For the match against «Arkadag», he fielded a fighting lineup in which 11 players included 8 foreign players from Portugal, Brazil, Ireland, Morocco, Senegal, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
The teams had to play in challenging weather conditions. Shortly before the game, the packed 10-thousand-seat stadium in the «smart» city of Turkmenistan was enveloped in thick fog. However, the first dangerous moment at the goal of visitors arose already in the 5th minute. After a cross into the penalty area, Didar Durdyyev headed the ball to Mekan Saparov, but he, a metre from the goal, was unable to send it into the net in a battle with Senegalese Dominique Mendy.
«Al-Haldiya» did score a goal in the 27th minute, but referee Ahmad Yaqub Ibrahim of Jordan disallowed the goal due to a clear offside.
And in the 45th minute, fortune smiled on the «Arkadag» field players: Shamammet Hydyrov, from 35-40 metres away, decided to take a long-range shot, which was so powerful that goalkeeper Ricardo Silva did not risk catching the ball, instead deflecting it with his fists to the onrushing Yazgylych Gurbanov. The goalkeeper also blocked his first header, but he was powerless against the second, and the ball quietly rolled into the goal.
After the break, the teams traded sharp attacks. In the 49th minute, Moroccan Ayoub El Amloud headed wide from close range. And in the 59th minute, Velmyrat Ballakov, finding space near the penalty area, fired just wide of the post.
Despite constant pressure from «Al-Haldiya» until the end of the match, the «Arkadag» players managed to hold on to a 1-0 victory.
In a parallel match in Doha, «Al Ahli» of Qatar, thanks to doubles in the 26th and 65th minutes from 28-year-old Dutch legionnaire Michel Vlap, known for his performances for Belgian Anderlecht and Dutch Twente, won against Uzbek’s «Andijan» 2-0. This result suited «Arkadag», who moved up to second place with 7 points, leaving behind «Al-Haldiya» (6 points) and «Andijan» (5 points). «Al-Ahli» won the group with 10 points.
But another Turkmen club, «Ahal», playing in the final match of Group «C» in Amman against Jordanian «Al-Hussein», was unable to hold on to a 1-0 lead after a spectacular goal in the 53rd minute by Elman Tagayev. In the final 25 minutes of the game, team of Velsahet Ovezov conceded three goals and lost to the Jordanian champions 1:3. The score of winners was equalised in the 65th minute by Youssef Abu Jalbush, and then Odeh Al-Fakhoury scored twice in the 74th and 80th minutes.
Let us remind that in the first round of the group stage, «Ahal» beat Indian «Mohun Bagan» 1-0 away. However, the Asian football confederation later excluded the Indian club from the tournament for failing to appear for an away match against Iranian «Sepahan» and annulled the result of the match against the Turkmen team.
In this way, at the end of the group stage, «Ahal» finished last with one point and ended its participation in the tournament. The winner, «Al-Hussein» (9 points), and the second-place finisher, «Sepahan» (7 points), advanced to the round of 16 from Group «C».
The AFC-2 Champions League is the second most important club tournament of the Asian football confederation after the Elite Champions League. In the AFC-2 Champions League group stage, 32 teams from 22 countries competed for the trophy, divided geographically into two zones – Western and Eastern. 16 teams advanced to the next stage.
The draw for the 1/8 finals will take place on the 30th of December, and the results will determine the future opponent of «Arkadag». It will be one of these three clubs: the Emirati «Al-Wasl», the Jordanian «Al-Hussein», or the Saudi Arabian «Al-Nasr», where five-time «Ballon d'Or» winner Cristiano Ronaldo plays.
«Al-Wasl», «Al-Hussein» and «Al-Nasr» won Groups «A», «C» and «D» of the Western Zone respectively and therefore, according to the tournament regulations, they must play the teams that finished second in their respective groups in the 1/8 finals.
Founded in 2023, «Arkadag» Football Club won the AFC Challenge League Cup for the first time this May – the third-highest-ranking Asian club trophy and now, in the year of its debut in the AFC-2 Challenge League, it has reached the 1/8 finals of the 21st edition of the second-most important tournament of men of the continent.
