The football players of the Turkmenistan national team (under 23 years old) won the first victory at the final tournament of the Youth Cup of Asia-2022, which is ongoing in Uzbekistan, beating the Iranian team in the second round of group A - 2: 1. The meeting was held in Tashkent at the stadium "Bunyodkor". The winners scored: Arzuvguly Sapargulyev (28th minute - from the penalty spot) and Teymur Charyev (80th), the losers - Alireza Bavie (8th).

The Asian Football Confederation called this victory of the Turkmen football players historical, since the youth team (U-23) of our country had never participated in the final part of the Asian Cup among the 16 best teams of the continent before.

In the first match, the debutants of the tournament from Turkmenistan put up decent resistance to the hosts - the Uzbeks, losing with a score of 0: 1 due to a penalty kick in the 75th minute for hitting the ball in the hand.

Towards the end of the meeting, the Turkmen team could bounce back when, in the 88th minute, Meilis Diniev hit the crossbar, and in the 90th minute, goalkeeper Abduvohid Nematov saved the team of Uzbekistan, transferring the ball to a corner with his fingertips after a free-kick by Ikhlas Toidzhanov.

“We are playing in the Asian Cup for the first time (under 23), and it is difficult for any team to start with a defeat,” Ahmed Agamuradov, head coach of the youth team of Turkmenistan, said at a press conference before the match with Iran. - In the duel with Uzbekistan, we made one mistake during the set piece, because of which we lost the game. This is football and now we have to turn our attention to our next opponents. In the opening match, I was pleased with how my players reacted to the missed goal. They showed determination and almost scored in the end of the game from a set piece. In the meeting with Iran, I want my team to play with the same intensity as against Uzbekistan.”

The head coach of the Iranian youth team (U-23) Mehdi Mahdavikia was also determined after his team played in the first round in a draw - 1:1 with Qatar.

“We lost two points in the first game, despite the advantage in possession of the ball,” M. Mahdavikia said. “We respect all teams, but in the duel with Turkmenistan we need to take three points.”

The Iranians started the game very aggressively against Turkmenistan, and already in the first minute they created a dangerous moment at the opponent's goal, gaining the right to the first corner.

After 7 minutes, the goalkeeper of our team Rasul Charyev, showing an outstanding reaction, repelled a strong shot from close range by Amirali Sadeghi on the goal line. However, the 8th minute did not have time to end, as Alireza Bavie, in an ongoing attack, shot accurately from 19 meters into the lower left corner of the goal, and Iran took the lead 1-0.

To the credit of our guys, having withstood a powerful assault of the opponent in the opening of the meeting, they did not lose heart and continued to look for ways to the gates of the Iranians. In one of the attacks in the 25th minute, Mehdi Hashemnejad fouled on the penalty area line on Shamammed Khydyrov, and FIFA referee from Australia Alexander George King first awarded a free kick behind the penalty area line, but after VAR interfered, he showed the 11-meter mark. Arzuvguly Sapargulyev clearly realized the penalty - 1:1.

At the 35th minute, midfielder of the Iranian national team Yassin Salmani fell in the penalty area of the Turkmen team, simulating a violation of the rules when dribbled on a defender. The referee of the match first pointed to the point, but after watching VAR, having understood the situation, he canceled the penalty.

The teams went into the break with the score 1-1.

At the 63rd minute, the Iranians remained in the minority due to the removal of Alireza Bavie for a rough foul on the captain of the youth team of Turkmenistan Velmurad Ballakov.

After that, Akhmed Agamuradov's wards began to play more actively in attack. In the 67th minute Shamammed Khydyrov missed a great chance to score a goal. He went one on one with the opponent's goalkeeper, but could not beat him.

And yet, the second ball was in the gates of the "youth team" of Iran. In the 80th minute, the Turkmen footballers organized a multi-way combination, which was completed with an accurate shot from outside the penalty area to the upper left corner of the goalkeeper, who came on as a substitute in the first half, Teymur Charyev. In the time remaining until the end of the meeting, the score has not changed.

Having won a strong-willed victory over the youth team of Iran - 2:1, the team of Turkmenistan scored the first 3 points and made a good bid for the playoffs.

The first from group "A" in the 1/4 finals ahead of schedule were the players of the youth team of Uzbekistan (6 points), who defeated the team of Qatar in the second round - 6:0. The fate of the second ticket to the quarterfinals will be decided on June 7 in the final round in the meetings: Qatar - Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan - Iran.

Before the last round, the "youth team" of Turkmenistan is ahead of the teams of Iran and Qatar by 2 points, and therefore, in the final match with the Qataris, our team will be satisfied with a draw to reach the quarterfinals.