On Tuesday, Uzbekistan and Australia played their final group game in the Asian Cup, which ended in a 1-1 draw.
This result secured a spot in the last 16 of the tournament for both teams.
Meanwhile, Syria defeated India in the other encounter in Group B to qualify for the knockouts for the first time in their history.
Australia had already secured a place in the knockout stage before the match even began, and the result moved the 2015 champions to seven points.
On the other hand, Uzbekistan finished second in the group with five points.
Following the game, Australia coach Graham Arnold expressed his satisfaction with his team’s performance, saying “We came here at the start of the tournament to top the group and we’ve got the job done. It’s the most important thing and we move forward now one game at a time and see who our next opponent is.”
Despite having an early goal ruled out for offside, Australia took the lead at the stroke of halftime when they were awarded a controversial penalty following a VAR check for a handball from Odiljon Hamrobekov.
The Uzbek midfielder was attempting to make a sliding tackle to stop Kusini Yengi in the box when his trailing hand made contact with the ball.
Martin Boyle put away the spot kick confidently after sending Utkir Yusupov the wrong way.
However, Uzbekistan did not give up and equalized in the 78th minute when Azizbek Turgunboev climbed over the defense to head home Jaloliddin Masharipov’s cross at the far post.
Uzbekistan coach Srecko Katanec was not happy with the penalty decision, saying “The Australian coach was honest and said it was never a penalty. They have to review a little bit the connection between VAR and the referee. If this is the penalty rule, then nobody knows the rules. There’s no intention and still, it’s a yellow card.”
In the other group game, Syria beat India 1-0 after Omar Khribin, the 2017 Asian Footballer of the Year, netted in the 76th minute to give the Middle Eastern side their first goal of the tournament.
Syria finished with four points and the AFC later clarified that they are also through to the last 16 as one of the four best third-placed teams across all groups “regardless of final results from other groups”.
This marks the first time Syria has advanced to the knockouts since their Asian Cup debut in 1980.
Unfortunately, India has been eliminated from the competition without scoring a goal in three losses.
