Uzbekistan adds two players from Europe before Vietnam match

Uzbekistan used only 21 players in the 2-0 win over Malaysia and 5-0 win over Kuwait to wait for two quality players playing in Europe. On April 21, the Uzbekistan Football Federation confirmed that the clubs agreed to release the players after a long period of persuasion, because the 2024 AFC U23 Championship is not a FIFA Day. Fayzullaev and Husanov joined the team in Qatar in the early morning of April 22.

Fayzullaev is currently playing for CSKA Moscow in the Russian national championship. The midfielder, born in 2003, moved to this club in the summer of 2023, but has been highly appreciated when playing 26 matches with 20 starts in a total of 33 matches since the beginning of the season, and scoring four goals.

Fayzullaev is considered the "Uzbek Messi". He is only 21 years old, but has already won a starting position in the Uzbekistan national team and was voted Uzbekistan's Best Player in 2023. Fayzullaev is also the most expensive player in Uzbekistan, valued at about 5.4 million USD (about 136 billion VND), according to the transfer statistics website.Transfermarket,equal to Eldor Shomurodov - the star currently playing for Cagliari in Serie A.

Fayzullaev was part of the runner-up squad at the 2022 AFC U23 Championship. He then helped Uzbekistan win the 2023 AFC U20 Championship and was named Player of the Tournament. At the 2023 Asian Cup, the 21-year-old attacking midfielder continued his impressive form, scoring two of the team's seven goals before being eliminated in the quarter-finals by hosts Qatar after a 3-2 penalty shootout loss.

Meanwhile, Abduqodir Khusanov, born in 2004, is rated by Football Observatory as one of the 20 best U20 central defenders in the world. Khusanov grew up at Uzbekistan's Bunyodkor training center. In 2022, he played for Belarusian club Energetik-BGU Minsk, then joined Lens club in the French National Championship - Ligue 1 in the summer of 2023, with nine matches since the beginning of the season.

The presence of Fayzullaev and Khusanov strengthens Uzbekistan in the remaining part of the 2024 AFC U23 Championship. The team is currently leading Group D with six points equal to Vietnam, but has a better goal difference of +7 compared to +4. Having secured a place in the quarterfinals, coach Timur Kapadze left open the possibility of using two players in the final match against Vietnam tomorrow, April 23.

Uzbekistan and Vietnam are still focused on winning Group D. This position helps avoid the team that wins Group C - most likely the defending champion Saudi Arabia.