The football players of the youth team of Turkmenistan (under 23) for the first time advanced to the final tournament of the Youth Asian Cup, which will be held on 1-19 June, 2022 in Tashkent city. This great success they gained on the basis of the results of the qualifying tournament in group “F” held in Amman with the participation of three teams.
In the first game the Turkmen football players suffered defeat against their peers from Jordan – 0:1, and in the second game they won over the opponents from Palestine – 3:1. In the final match of the tournament the Jordanians and Palestinians were even– 1:1. However, as it turned out from the results of meetings in other groups, regardless of the result of the last match, the national team of Turkmenistan secured a ticket to the final stage of the competition.
According to the earlier held drawing of lots, 42 teams were divided into 11 groups, the winners of each group, and the best four second-placed teams will gain the right to play in the final of the youth Asian championship.
But later the teams of Afghanistan, Brunei, China and DPRK refused to participate in the tournament, as a result, different number of teams was formed in the groups. In this situation, in order to qualify for the final stage of the competition, it was decided not to take into account the results of meetings against teams that took fourth places.
Thus, team of Turkmenistan with 3 scores and goal difference (3-2) entered the best four second-placed teams with highest scores and secured a place in the final tournament.
The Turkmenistan team was brought to this success by the 42 aged well-known coach Ahmet Agamuradov, who has a great experience in work with different teams. Let us remind you that earlier, under his leadership, our youth team entered the top four teams at the 2015 Commonwealth Cup.
As a result of qualification, the teams from Qatar, Iran, Iraq, Kuwait, UAE, Australia, Jordan, Republic of Korea, Malaysia, Japan, Thailand, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan (as hosts of the competition) gained a right to play in the final part of the youth Asian Cup-2022 (U-23). The holders of the three remaining tickets, for which the national teams of Vietnam, Myanmar, Saudi Arabia and Tajikistan apply, will become known on November 2 following the results of the final matches in groups «D» and «I».
Following the final qualifying round, the top three football teams will qualify to represent Asia at the 2024 Paris Olympics.
