Tajikistan Second Team To Book Ticket To World Cup

PETALING JAYA (Selangor, Malaysia) Oct 1 (Bernama) -- Tajikistan became the second team to secure a ticket to the 2019 Under-17 (U-17) World Cup in Peru after beating North Korea 4-2 in the second leg of the quarter-finals at the 2018 Asian Football Confederation (AFC) U-16 Championship, here Sunday night. The match had to be determined through a penalty kick after both teams drew 1-1 in the full game at the Petaling Jaya City Council Stadium (MBPJ), Kelana Jaya in Selangor. The victory over twice-champions North Korea saw Tajikistan, which was third at the 2006 AFC U-16 Championship, accompanying Japan to the 2019 U-17 World Cup. Earlier, Japan advanced to the semi-finals of the 2018 AFC U-16 Championship after beating two-time champions Oman 2-1 in the first quarter-finals action at Bukit Jalil National Stadium Sunday evening. Based on the format of the tournament, four teams that advanced to the semi-finals of the 2018 AFC U-16 Championship, would qualify for the 2019 World Cup U-17. In the action Sunday night, Tajikistan took the lead in the 13th minute via a powerful shot from by Rustam Soirov after receiving a far pass from Amadoni Komolov and the 1-0 result lasted until the end of the first half. Once the match continued, North Korea clearly showed a dominance of the game through some dangerous attempts and they succeeding in equalising in the 63rd minute through Kim Jin Hyok. The goal, however, was not counted as the player was offside. Their efforts eventually bore fruit through an interesting attempt outside the penalty box by Ri Hun in the 69th minute that entered the left side of Tajikistan's goal. But subsequently there was no extra goal in the game forcing a penalty shoot-out. Tajikistan would face a fourth quarter-finals winner between two-time champions South Korea and India in the semi-finals action at MBPJ Stadium on Thursday. The fourth quarter-finals match between South Korea and India would take place at the same venue Monday. -- BERNAMA