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AFC U23 Asian Cup
The Central Asian side dominated the last eight tie with over 70 percent possession and 28 attempts but failed to find the back of the net, with China PR winning the penalty shoot-out 4-2 after the tie ended 0-0.
#AFCU23 | Quarter-finals: Uzbekistan 0 (2)-(4) 0 China PR
“The whole 120 minutes, we were in control and we created opportunities,” said Khaydarov, whose side’s exit means Uzbekistan will not feature in the semi-finals for the first time since 2016.
“Maybe we lacked some creativity, that's why we didn’t realise all our opportunities. The Chinese side, as we expected, performed in a very disciplined way. The shootout wasn’t successful for us but I can't blame my team. This was all they could do.
“We lacked players that could have strengthened our attack. (Rustambek) Fomin went on and had chances but didn’t score, then we tried with (Abdugafur) Haydarov and that didn’t work as well.”
“Maybe we lacked some creativity, that's why we didn’t realise all our opportunities. The Chinese side, as we expected, performed in a very disciplined way. The shootout wasn’t successful for us but I can't blame my team. This was all they could do.
“We lacked players that could have strengthened our attack. (Rustambek) Fomin went on and had chances but didn’t score, then we tried with (Abdugafur) Haydarov and that didn’t work as well.”
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Haydarov, however, was proud of what his players had produced throughout the tournament but stressed the need to add more creative players in the squad.
“They gained experience during this tournament but this was not our day. Our journey ends here and I would like to thank all the players for their attitude and responsibility towards the game, they gave everything.
“Football is football. If you look at the statistics, the percentage of control and pressing, we controlled the whole game but this can happen. We had so many opportunities but we lacked creativity in the final third and we need to improve on this.”
“They gained experience during this tournament but this was not our day. Our journey ends here and I would like to thank all the players for their attitude and responsibility towards the game, they gave everything.
“Football is football. If you look at the statistics, the percentage of control and pressing, we controlled the whole game but this can happen. We had so many opportunities but we lacked creativity in the final third and we need to improve on this.”
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