Alkass Digital
Tabrez Islomov has highlighted Jordan’s attacking trio of Mousa Al Tamari, Ali Olwan and Yazan Al Naimat as the threat Tajikistan must neutralise in their maiden AFC Asian Cup Qatar 2023 quarter-final at Ahmad Bin Ali Stadium today.
Islomov has prior knowledge of the trio as the teams played to a 1-1 draw in Group G of the Preliminary Joint Qualification - Round 2 for the FIFA World Cup 2026 and AFC Asian Cup Saudi Arabia 2027 in November.
“Our preparation is going well to face a strong opponent who are appearing at this stage of the tournament for the fifth time in their history,” said the FC Istiklol player.
“In comparison (to our last meeting), we noticed that compared to then, they look like a good attacking group, especially the front three. That is the major difference that we can see of Jordan in this tournament.
“However, we also have good defenders and we have done our homework and I’m sure Tajikistan can compete with them, even with the improvements that they have made.”
The 25-year-old defender has thus far been trusted by head coach Petar Segrt as the player to rely on when the team head into the final part of matches with three consecutive appearances from the bench against Qatar, Lebanon and UAE.
Tajikistan’s journey in their debut AFC Asian Cup has captured imaginations back home and Islomov said the players are well aware of the huge attention.
“In the (Round of 16) match against UAE, when we saw our supporters who came from Tajikistan, it gave us a lot of energy. Two more flights have been organised by the federation for this match and that will surely give us another boost to fight.
“From our first day here, maybe not everybody believed in us, even back home. Mostly everyone was waiting for us to go home after the group stage but we proved to ourselves and everyone else that we can make it.
“After UAE, we saw a lot of celebrations all over Tajikistan. This kind of feeling in Tajikistan regarding football is a first for us and we want to keep this going.”