Football players of the national team of Turkmenistan (under 23) for the first time made it to the quarterfinals of the Youth Asian Cup-2022. They achieved this historic success by taking second place in Group A of the final tournament in Uzbekistan.

As already reported, the first in the 1/4 finals of this group ahead of schedule were the players of the national team of Uzbekistan. The fate of the second ticket to the quarterfinals was decided on the final game day in group A in the meetings between Uzbekistan - Iran and Qatar - Turkmenistan, which were held at the same time at different stadiums. The first was played in Karshi at the Markaziy Central Stadium, and the second - in Tashkent at the Bunyodkor Stadium.

Before the last round, the “youth team” of Turkmenistan was ahead of the teams of Iran and Qatar by 2 points, and therefore, in the game with the Qataris, the Turkmen team was also satisfied with a draw to reach the quarterfinals.

The match turned out to be far from easy for the wards of Akhmed Agamuradov and very dramatic for the Qataris. 17 minutes before the end of regular time, the Qataris, thanks to a double by Osama Al Tairi (65th and 73rd minutes), led 2-0, which led them to the quarterfinals. However, in the time remaining before the final whistle, the Turkmen football players made an incredible comeback within seven minutes - thanks to the efforts of Begenchmurad Muradov (75th and 82nd) they won back both goals and for the first time made it into the top eight of the strongest youth teams in Asia! But first things first.

Already in the 9th minute, Qatar could open the scoring: Mostafa Tarek hit the center of the goal with all his might from 12 meters, but the goalkeeper of our team Rasul Charyev, who was called the Asian Buffon at the tournament after the legendary goalkeeper of the Italian national team, repelled a powerful blow.

Two minutes later, the Turkmen team responded with a sharp counterattack, which ended with a strong blow from outside the penalty area, the best player of the match with Iran, Teymur Charyev. But the ball flew just out of the gate.

In the 25th minute, the Qataris missed another real opportunity to score a goal, when Osama Al Tairi, entering the penalty area, hit the gates unprotected by the goalkeeper. But the team was saved by the defender Ikhlas Toidzhanov, reflecting the ball flying into the net with his left foot.

A minute before the end of the time compensated in the first half, our players also disturbed the opponent's goalkeeper, who, not without difficulty, transferred the ball flying under the crossbar after a long-range strike by Rahman Muratberdyev to the corner.

After the break, the "youth team" of Qatar, which needed to win to reach the quarterfinals, continued to seek happiness at the gates of others.

At the 53rd minute, the fans of the Turkmen team had to worry again when the ball hit our goal post after a set piece.

After that, the game took on a double-edged character. In the 62nd minute, two of our forwards went to one defender, but the final transfer of the winger to a partner did not go through, and the moment was lost. And two minutes later, Teimur Charyev, at the entrance to the opponent's penalty area, like a slalom player, beat two defenders of Qatar, but could not get the third one, earning only a corner.

As often happens in football: you don’t score, they score for you. And then thunder struck for the national team of Turkmenistan. In the 65th minute, the Qataris played a multi-way combination, which was completed with an accurate header from the line of the goalkeeper's area, Osama Al Tairi.

The coaching staff of the youth team of Turkmenistan immediately makes a double substitution - Dayanch Meredov and Begenchmurad Muradov enter the field.

The Turkmen team rushes to the attack hoping to recoup and in a few minutes… concede the second goal. In the 73rd minute, second-half substitute Jassim Al-Mehairi completed a perfect cross for Osama Al Tairi, who, with his back to the goal, sent the ball into the net in touch. The joy of the Qataris knew no bounds: the whole team ran onto the field, celebrating their success in the hope of making it to the quarterfinals.

We must pay tribute to the character of our players: finding themselves in a difficult situation, they did not accept defeat and were rewarded for it. The hero of the meeting was Begenchmurad Muradov, who came on as a substitute in the 67th minute. First, in the 75th minute, he finished off the ball that bounced off the goalkeeper after a long-range shot by Teymur Charyev, and then in the 82nd minute, after a corner kick from the left side, he equalized the score, which allowed the Turkmen youth team to reach the playoffs.

It is noteworthy that before the start of the final tournament, few people believed in the national team of Turkmenistan, considering it a "dark horse", as stated on the website of the Asian Football Confederation. But as subsequent events showed, this "dark horse" under the leadership of head coach Ahmed Agamuradov first lost with a minimum score of 0:1 to the favorite of the tournament - the national team of Uzbekistan, and then left the strongest teams of Iran and Qatar out of the playoffs, sensationally defeating the Iranians - 2:1 and having played with the Qataris in a draw - 2:2.

As a result, Turkmenistan became the third debutant in the history of the tournament to reach the playoffs, following in the footsteps of Malaysia and Palestine, who accomplished the feat in 2018.

In the quarter-finals, the youth team of Turkmenistan will play with the winners of group "B" - Australia, which on the way to the playoffs won against Kuwait - 2: 0, then tied - 1: 1 with Iraq, and in the last round defeated Jordan - 1:0.

The Australia-Turkmenistan match will take place on June 11 in Tashkent at the Bunyodkor stadium.