2018 AFC U-23 Championship final

The 2018 AFC U-23 Championship Final was a football match that took place on 27 January 2018 at the Changzhou Olympic Sports Centre in Changzhou, China, to determine the winners of the 2018 AFC U-23 Championship. The match was contested by Vietnam and Uzbekistan, the winners of the semi-finals.

2018 AFC U-23 Championship Final

Changzhou Olympic Sports Centre in Changzhou hosted the final.
Event	2018 AFC U-23 Championship
Vietnam Uzbekistan 1 2
After extra time
Date	27 January 2018
Venue	Changzhou Olympic Sports Centre, Changzhou
Man of the Match	Nguyễn Quang Hải
Referee	Ahmed Al-Kaf (Oman)
Attendance	6,200
Weather	Heavy snow 0 °C (32 °F)

Uzbekistan beat Vietnam after extra time to claim their maiden U-23 Asian Cup title in what was considered to be the most exciting and special final in the history of the Asian Football Confederation (AFC).

Route to the final

Further information: 2018 AFC U-23 Championship

Vietnam's participation to the final was considered as a surprise. Prior to the tournament, Vietnam had just participated in one edition, the 2016 AFC U-23 Championship where they finished bottom with total three defeats. Uzbekistan, being considered as a heavyweight, in their first two editions were not successful, being eliminated from the group stage both two editions and only claimed one victory in both tournaments.

Vietnam participated in the tournament together with South Korea, Australia and Syria. Being in a tough group, Vietnam was believed to make an early exit from the group stage. That was true in the first match, when Vietnam lost 1–2 to South Korea. However, Vietnam surprisingly bounced back and beat Australia 1–0, took vengeance for the defeat two years ago. After drawing Syria 0–0, Vietnam, together with Malaysia were the first two Southeast Asian teams to qualify into the knockout stage. Vietnam continued to surprise every predictions by defeating Iraq and Qatar on the penalty shootout after two thrillers, both ended 3–3 and 2–2 after 120 minutes each. Thus Vietnam had written history by becoming the first Southeast Asian team since 1999, to play in the final of an AFC tournament. This was also Vietnam's first ever AFC final in their football history.

Uzbekistan was placed in group A with host China, Qatar and Oman. Unlike Vietnam, Uzbekistan had more experience, and was expected to make at least the semi-finals. However, their hope was shattered by a humiliating 0–1 loss to Qatar, before they fought back and defeated China and Oman both with the score 1–0. When the Young White Wolves passed into the quarter-finals, the Uzbeks showed their strength by demolishing an Olympic-preparing squad and Asian champions Japan in a surprising 4–0 victory, before taking 120 minutes to defeat another East Asian giant, South Korea, 4–1.

Vietnam		Round	Uzbekistan
Opponents	Result	Group stage	Opponents	Result
South Korea	1–2	Match 1	Qatar	0–1
Australia	1–0	Match 2	China	1–0
Syria	0–0	Match 3	Oman	1–0
Group D runners-up Pos Team Pld Pts 1 South Korea 3 7 2 Vietnam 3 4 3 Australia 3 3 4 Syria 3 2 Source: AFC		Final standings	Group A runners-up Pos Team Pld Pts 1 Qatar 3 9 2 Uzbekistan 3 6 3 China 3 3 4 Oman 3 0 Source: AFC
Opponents	Result	Knockout stage	Opponents	Result
Iraq	3–3 (a.e.t.) (5–3 p)	Quarter-finals	Japan	4–0
Qatar	2–2 (a.e.t.) (4–3 p)	Semi-finals	South Korea	4–1 (a.e.t.)

Match

In decidedly snowy conditions at the Changzhou Olympic Sports Center, it was Uzbekistan who controlled the early proceedings, and they duly took the lead on eight minutes when a poorly marked Rustamjon Ashurmatov headed home Khamdamov’s outswinging corner.

Uzbekistan continued to press after the breakthrough, as both a Javokhir Sidikov header and Khamdamov’s effort from 20 yards forced Vietnam goalkeeper Bui Tien Dung into quick saves.

Despite struggling to fully impose themselves on the game, Vietnam briefly threatened to restore parity shortly after the half hour mark when Pham Xuan Manh’s excellent cross narrowly eluded the onrushing Phan Van Duc and Nguyen Quang Hai.

However, after seeing Azizjon Ganiev fire narrowly over, Vietnam drew level on the stroke of half-time. Nguyen Cong Phuong was brought down on the edge of the area and from the resulting free-kick, Quang Hai superbly curled the ball past the despairing dive of Botirali Ergashev to register his fifth goal of the tournament.

After a delayed restart to allow a layer of snow to be removed from the pitch, Uzbekistan were the first to shine once again, this time Khamdamov stinging the palms of Tien Dung courtesy of a 48th minute long-range drive.

Moments later, Tien Dung, the hero of Vietnam’s semi-final win over Iraq, reacted well to deny Sidikov from six yards, before Uzbekistan captain Zabikhillo Urinboev fizzed a shot wide of the left-hand upright on 70 minutes.

In the last meaningful action of normal time, Urinboev could, and very possibly should, have won the match for the Central Asians, but the striker inexplicably lashed his attempt from eight yards over the bar after Tien Dung had parried Akramjon Komilov’s cross into his path.

Urinboev’s miss was to matter little in the end though, as Sidorov applied an expert finish to Khamdamov's last gasp corner at the end of additional time to seal the title for Uzbekistan and break Vietnamese hearts on a day of high drama.

27 January 2018 (2018-01-27)

16:00 (UTC+8)

Final

Vietnam	1–2 (a.e.t.)	Uzbekistan
Nguyễn Quang Hải 41'	Report	Ashurmatov 8' Sidorov 120'

Changzhou Olympic Sports Centre, Changzhou

Attendance: 6,200

Referee: Ahmed Al-Kaf (Oman)

Vietnam

Uzbekistan (first half)

Uzbekistan (second half and extra time)

GK 1 Bùi Tiến Dũng I CB 11 Đỗ Duy Mạnh  111' CB 21 Trần Đình Trọng CB 4 Bùi Tiến Dũng II RM 2 Phạm Xuân Mạnh CM 6 Lương Xuân Trường (c) CM 8 Phạm Đức Huy  58' LM 17 Vũ Văn Thanh RF 19 Nguyễn Quang Hải CF 10 Nguyễn Công Phượng  80' LF 14 Phan Văn Đức  109' Substitutions: DF 20 Bùi Tiến Dụng  101'  80' MF 7 Nguyễn Phong Hồng Duy  109' FW 13 Hà Đức Chinh  58' Manager: Park Hang-seo

GK 1 Botirali Ergashev RB 5 Abbosjon Otakhonov  103' CB 20 Dostonbek Tursunov  111' CB 2 Rustamjon Ashurmatov LB 4 Akramjon Komilov CM 6 Azizjon Ganiev CM 7 Odiljon Hamrobekov  35' RW 8 Jasurbek Yakhshiboev  10'  45' AM 10 Javokhir Sidikov  121'  118' LW 17 Dostonbek Khamdamov CF 9 Zabikhillo Urinboev (c) Substitutions: MF 16 Doniyorjon Narzullaev  45' FW 22 Bobur Abdikholikov  103' FW 11 Andrey Sidorov  118' Manager: Ravshan Khaydarov

Match rules: 90 minutes. 30 minutes of extra time if necessary. Penalty shoot-out if scores still level. Maximum of three substitutions.

Controversies

Referee issues

Prior to the final, the AFC had assigned Chinese referee Ma Ning to be in the final. However, only a few hours before the match, Ma was replaced by Omani referee Ahmed Al-Kaf. The AFC did not explain their reasoning behind its decision, however, it was believed to have been from disputes between the host officials and the AFC over refereeing. Al-Kaf himself had also refereed in some previous AFC Champions League matches.

Snowy conditions

The match was played in heavy snow, under –2°C, which was relatively very cold, and it had been suggested that the match be delayed due to snowfall. However, the AFC turned down the request and ordered the match to continue. After the end of the first half, the AFC asked that the snow be cleared from the field, and it took around thirty minutes to one hour until the match could be continued. It was criticised in the aftermath of the match, both by Uzbek and Vietnamese fans, as both teams were not accustomed to play in such harsh weather conditions.

Uzbekistan's team shirt

In the first half, the Uzbeks were permitted by the AFC to wear all-white, despite heavy snow storms across the city. Because of this, not only the Vietnamese, but even the Uzbek players found themselves very hard to find and see their own players on the field. To solve the problem, the Uzbeks had changed to blue uniforms in the second half of the match.

External links

• Full-time report