FOOTBALL – SPIRITED Tajikistan held China to a 0-0 draw at the Abdullah bin Khalifa Stadium in Doha yesterday in their opening Group A game of the 2023 AFC Asian Cup to make a most impressive competition debut.
Playing in their first-ever AFC Asian Cup match, Tajikistan dominated the first half, much to the surprise of the Chinese fans in the crowd with 12 shots at goal, more possession and more completed passes.
The debutants could have taken the lead in the 26th minute but Alisher Dzhalilov’s low effort went just wide of the goalpost.
China also had a missed opportunity in the 35th minute when Wang Quiming struck the ball on the half-volley straight towards the goal but Menucheckhr Safarov blocked with his body.
China rang in the substitutions in the second half and the move almost paid off but a Zie Pengfei header was cleared by defender Zoir Dzhuraboev in the 75th minute.
In the 80th minute, Zhu Chenjie headed a cross from a corner into the back of the net only for the goal to be overturned following a VAR review.
Meanwhile, two second-half goals from Jackson Irvine and Jordan Bos led Australia to a 2-0 win over India in their Group B opener at the Ahmad bin Ali Stadium in Al Rayyan with more than 35,000 people in attendance.
With Japanese match official Yoshimi Yamashita creating history by becoming the first woman ever to referee an AFC Asian Cup match, Australia saw two good scoring opportunities go abegging in the first few minutes with Aziz Behich shooting wide and Mitch Duke unable to get a header on target.
India, then, almost took the lead in the 16th minute but Sunil Chhetri’s header went wide as he dived forward.
The scoreboard read 0-0 at half-time after the Australians failed to make 11 corner kicks count but the Socceroos took a 1-0 lead five minutes after the break through Irvine, who pounced on a poor attempted clearance by Indian goalkeeper Gurpreet Singh.
After another half-chance for India in the 69th minute, Bos jumped on a cross from Ryan McGree to send the ball into the back of the net four minutes later to put Australia 2-0 up.
And, in the second Group B game yesterday, Syria battled Uzbekistan to a 0-0 draw at the Jassim bin Hamad Stadium in Al Rayyan, despite the Central Asian team dominating the encounter.
Uzbekistan could have taken the lead in the very first minute but Otabek Shukurov’s long-range shot just missed the mark and, a little later, Hojimat Erkinov’s left-footed shot went wide.
Syria defended resolutely for the rest of the first half and had an opportunity to score five minutes before the break but Ammar Ramadan’s shot from just outside the box failed to find its mark.
The pattern from the first half was repeated in the second with the Uzbeks on the offensive and the Syrians forced on the back foot.
With 25 minutes left, Syrian midfielder Ibrahim Hesar managed to find the back of the Uzbekistan net but was ruled off-side.
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