After beating United Arab Emirates on penalties in the Round of 16, they will now be facing Jordan on Friday.
The debutants went 1-0 up when Vakhdat Khanonov scored with a 30th-minute header, only for Khalifa Al-Hammadi to equalise in the 95th minute and send the game into extra-time. Yet Tajikistan kept their heads held high and went on to win 5-3 on penalties.
To make it even more of a surprise, the UAE reached the semi-finals at the last two Asian Cups but Paulo Bento's side bowed out to a Tajikistan side ranked more than 40 places lower than them in the FIFA World Rankings.
In the group stage, the Crowns only won 1 game when they beat Lebanon after a 92nd minute winner by Nuriddin Khamrokulov. They also went on to draw against China which knocked another favourite out of the competition. Tajikistan finished 2nd in Group A which forced them into the tie against the UAE.
The majority of their players play in the Tajikistan league, which is classed as a semi-professional league, whereas many of the players they have been up against are used to playing full-time football.
The Crown will play Jordan on Friday at 11:30am where they will play their hearts out and hopefully go on to see themselves in the semi-finals.
Jordan where one of the best 3rd placed teams and managed to beat Malaysia a stunning 4-0 whilst also gaining a point to Son Heung Min’s South Korean side. In the round of 16 they beat Iraq 3-2, so they are also coming into this tie-on fine form. They did end their game against Iraq with 10 men when Hamza AI-Dardour got sent off in the 96th minute; he will now miss their game against Tajikistan.
Tajikistan have stolen the hearts of so many. Do you think they can go one step further and reach the semi-finals?
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