Tajikistan, Saudi Arabia fetch victories before heading into AFC Asian Cup

Saudi Arabia edged past Lebanon in their friendly game.

Tajikistan continued their preparations towards their AFC Asian Cup debut with a 2-1 win over Hong Kong, China in a friendly match played on Thursday.

In the match played at Sheikh Zayed Stadium in Abu Dhabi, Rustom Soirov and Shahrom Samiev scored on either side of Everton Camargo’s equaliser for Hong Kong, China to stretch Tajikistan’s unbeaten run to six matches.

Under Croatian head coach Petar Segrt, Tajikistan advanced to Qatar 2023 by topping their qualifying group.

Segrt will keep working with his players in the United Arab Emirates before leaving for Qatar on Monday for their Group A opener against China PR on January 13. Qatar and Lebanon are the other teams in the group.

Saudi Arabia, meanwhile, edged Lebanon 1-0 at the Al Wakrah Stadium with Feras Albrikan scoring the winner. 

Friday will be a busy day of arrivals with Japan’s Europe-based players to join up with the rest of the squad in Doha. Hong Kong and Vietnam are also scheduled to arrive.

Four more friendlies involving AFC Asian Cup sides will be played on Friday with Indonesia facing Libya, Islamic Republic of Iran playing Burkina Faso, Qatar taking on Jordan and Syria meeting Kyrgyz Republic.

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