The chances of the national team of Turkmenistan at the Asian Cup-2019

January 04, 2019 | 16:57 |483

Source:

Georgiy ASLANYAN

From January 5 to February 1, the United Arab Emirates will host the 17th Asian football Cup. The tournament is held every four years among the national teams of the AFC member countries (Asian Football Confederation). Turkmenistan for the second time in the history of this tournament made its way to the final part of Asian Cup, so football fans affectionately call the championship of Asia, by analogy with the Spanish name of the world Cup – Copa Mundial. The main contender for the victory is the Australian team, which will defend the title of the winner of the Asian Cup-2015.

The Asian Cup will no longer be the same as before. The organization of the AFC changed the format of the competition, increasing the number of participants in the final stage to 24 teams (up to 2019 16 teams participated). To do this, it was decided to add 2 additional groups of 4 teams and another stage of the playoffs. In the 1/8 finals there are teams that took first and second place in the groups, as well as the four best teams that took third place.

This practice is not new to the international football community. In 2016, the French European championship was held for the first time in an expanded format, where 16 participants also moved to 24. Summing up the results of CHE-2016, FIFA President Gianni Infantino said that he was pleased with the reforms, thanks to which the qualifying tournament was very tense and interesting. In addition, the expansion of the number of teams allowed more teams to participate in this sports festival.

"Football is a global sport that should unite the world»

For the first time the national team of Turkmenistan made its way to the final stage of the Asian Cup in 2004 in China. Having won the qualifying tournament in 2003, where the teams of the UAE, Sri Lanka and Syria also played, the Turkmen national team for the first time in its history got into the top hundred teams of the world according to FIFA. However, these achievements did not help the national team of Turkmenistan in the final tournament of Asian. Once in the group with Uzbekistan, Iraq and Saudi Arabia, Turkmenistan took only 3rd place, losing with a minimum score in the match for the withdrawal from the group of the national team of Uzbekistan. It is noteworthy that after many years of returning to the continental championship, Turkmenistan will again play with its neighbors in the Central Asian region. There is no doubt that the football “dzhigits” of Yazkuli Khojageldiyev will come to the match with the mood to take revenge in order to surpass the success of 2004.

What are the successes of the Turkmen in the group?

Turkmenistan will play three matches in group "F": 1st match against Japan – January 9. Coach of Japan has extremely reshaped team compared to the World Cup in Russia, after which about retirement announced three experienced "samurais", including Keisuke Honda, known for his performances for CSKA Moscow and Italian Milan. In addition, the call to the national team did not receive Inui, Okazaki and Kagawa, showed a great sport at the World Cup. However, the coach of the national team disqualified them from participating in the Asian Cup due to lack of proper playing practice in the clubs. Not discarding the success of Japan at all times, with a favorable confluence of the game, Turkmenistan has the right to count on points in this match. 2nd against Uzbekistan - January 13. Uzbekistan national team has a new coach – famous Hector Cooper, the best coach in Europe in 2000. The last place of work of him was the Egyptian national team at the World Cup in Russia. Despite the unsuccessful result with the "pharaohs", Hector Cooper should help Uzbekistan in the campaign for the Asian Cup. A distinctive feature of the work of this coach has always been a style reminiscent of "catenaccio". Translated from Italian – “a door that cannot be passed”. It is a tactical scheme with emphasis on defense, and use of rapid counter-attacks, complicating life rivals. Forecasters predict the national team of Uzbekistan out of the group from the first place and hit at least a quarter of the final. Undoubtedly, Turkmenistan will not be easy, but the ability to gather forces at the right time has always characterized the Turkmen team. 3rd against Oman – January 17. The coach of the Oman national team is a well-known Dutch specialist, Pim Verbek. He was an assistant to Gus Hiddink in South Korea and Australia, and helped in PSG and Borussia from mönchengladbach. Verbek is considered one of the most experienced specialists in the upcoming Asial. The football Federation of Oman has set the coach the task of winning the medal, to which the specialist replied that there is nothing impossible in football. Let's see if this is really the case. In any case, the national team of Turkmenistan has experience of positive meetings with Oman in the recent past. Several facts speak for Turkmenistan's success at the upcoming Asian Cup. The first – Yazkuli Khojageldiyev – the best coach of Turkmenistan-2018 according to the FFT. It would be useful to recall that the head coach of the country combines an honorary post in the national team with a post in Ashgabat "Altyn Asyr". Last year, the club for the first time in the history of Turkmen football reached the AFC Cup final (similar to the Asian League of Europe). Before this achievement, the representatives of Turkmenistan had never been able to leave the group. Success in the international arena was achieved thanks to the coaching skills of Khojageldiyev. The second - players. There are many players in the national team of Turkmenistan with extensive experience and international practice. Just four players of the middle line represent the Championships of other countries, including Ruslan Mingazov, Arslan Amanov, Ilya Tamurkin and Ahmed Ataev. The third - "Altyn Asyr". The recent success of the capital's club in the international arena is a good incentive for the collections. In addition, 11 out of 23 players in the application of the national team of Turkmenistan for the Asian Cup 2019 are players of "Altyn Asyr" and remember how much joy their performance at the AFC Cup gave the fans.

The forecast for the performance of the national team of Turkmenistan at the Asian Cup will be quite modest-out of the group from second place. Stay up to date with the Asian Cup 2019 with ORIENT.