Unknown things about Uzbekistan football
(Baonghean.vn) - Before the final match of the U23 Asian Cup between Vietnam and Uzbekistan, domestic fans often mentioned the historic achievement of the Vietnamese team in the 10 years after winning the 2008 AFC Cup. But on the other side of the battle line, Uzbekistan also had a special 10 years in a very unique way with their own football economy.
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| Stadium of Bunyodkor, the super club of the capital Tashkent. |
Uzbekistan is considered an outpost of Asian football, as this country owns one of the most prominent "super clubs" in the history of world football: Bunyodkor - the capital team of Tashkent.
The dream of this team is nothing less than to become a rival of Manchester United, or even surpass Barcelona to become the new champion of the FIFA Club World Cup.
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| Uzbekistan national team. |
Knowing that this goal is very difficult, Uzbekistan and especially the Tashkent city government have spared no expense in campaigns to expand the influence of the king sport locally, attract sponsors and above all, brand Bunyodkor on the world football map.
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| Rivaldo spent the last years of his career in Uzbekistan. |
In 2008, football superstar Rivaldo decided to leave AEK Athens to play for Bunyodkor in Uzbekistan. At the age of 36, the star who helped Brazil win the 2002 World Cup had no reason to refuse a $14 million contract to play for the club for 2 years. Bunyodkor even sent an offer to Barcelona star Samuel Eto'o at that time, but the famous player refused.
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| Uzbekistan's team that won the 1994 Asian Games shocked all of Asia. |
The first time Uzbekistan participated in an official Asian tournament was at the Hiroshima Asian Games (Japan) in 1994. And right in the first time participating with the Asian football family that year, the Uzbekistan Olympic team (ie the U23 team) won the men's football championship of the tournament, after defeating China in the final match.
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| Uzbekistan is also a team with half European and half Asian characteristics. Their players are not lacking in skill like Asians, but are still strong in one-on-one battles, good at aerial combat, and good at playing long balls like European teams. |
Uzbekistan is one of the many emerging sports nations in Asia. The Uzbekistan national football team has achieved many great feats by reaching 6 consecutive AFC Asian Cups in 1996, 2000, 2004, 2007, 2011 and most recently in 2015.
Football is the most popular sport in Uzbekistan. The country's top football league, the Uzbek League, is contested by 16 teams. The current champions (2016) are Lokomotiv Tashkent. Pakhtakor hold the record for most championship wins (10).
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| Uzbekistan youth football has achieved some success with the U16 and U20 teams, but their national team has yet to reach the World Cup. |
Uzbekistan's football clubs also regularly participate in the AFC Champions League and AFC Cup. FC Nasaf won the AFC Cup in 2011, the first international trophy won by an Uzbekistani club.
At the U23 level, Uzbekistan won the football championship at the 1994 Asian Games in their first appearance. At the U20 level, Uzbekistan finished runners-up at the 2008 AFC U-19 Championship in Saudi Arabia and won the U17 championship in 2010.
Thanks to these achievements, Uzbekistan is ranked among the 10 strongest football teams in Asia and the strongest football team in Central Asia.
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| The best achievement of U23 Uzbekistan up to this point is still the Gold Medal at the 1994 Asian Games in Japan. |
Despite being a strong team on the continent, Uzbekistan has never qualified for the World Cup. The closest they came to the World Cup was in the 2014 World Cup qualifiers, when the team narrowly missed out on a place in the intercontinental play-offs after losing to Jordan on penalties in the fourth qualifying round.
Uzbekistan is ranked 77th in FIFA rankings, while Vietnam is currently ranked 112th.
