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On January 17, the national team of Turkmenistan will hold the final match in the group stage against Oman in Abu Dhabi. Both teams have not won a single meeting in this championship, losing in turn to the Japanese and Uzbeks with a total score of 3-9.Georgiy ASLANYAN
In other years, the teams of Turkmenistan and Oman, having no chance of leaving the group, would have played a meaningless match in the tournament plan and said goodbye to the Cup. But thanks to changes in the rules of Asian Cup from 2019, namely the expansion of the composition of participants to 24 teams, there were additional places in the playoffs and little hope of saving the third place in the group, which will give a start to the next round. Explicit prospects for leaving the group nourish the hopes of athletes, and give strength to achieve the cherished goal.
We know that twelve teams from the first and second places from the group will definitely come out in 1/8, as well as only four teams from the 3rd place.
Oman and Turkmenistan have zero points, which means that if they win, the third team of the quartet F will score a maximum of three points. It is this asset that will be decisive when comparing all third teams in the Asian Cup group stage
Five facts about the teams
In the entire history of the Asian Cup, the national team of Turkmenistan is just the second time participating in the final stage of the tournament. Since 2004, it has been fifteen years since the fans have dreamed of seeing the performance of their idols again at the main Asian games. The participation of Turkmen in the Asian Cup-2019 has already gone down in history, however there is only one small, but very bright hope for the continuation of the football tale and Turkmenistan’s entry into the playoffs...