Skipper Kobilov urges Uzbekistan to go all the way

The Central Asians produced their best performance of the tournament to defeat United Arab Emirates 5-1 and Kobilov wants them to carry that form into Wednesday’s semi-final against Saudi Arabia. 

What made the win over UAE even more commendable was that Uzbekistan recovered from conceding an early goal to ultimately cruise to victory, with five different players etching their names on the scoresheet.

“We conceded early in the game, but I told my teammates to continue playing our game because we still had another 80 minutes. We then tried to control the match and we achieved a great victory,” said Kobilov, who scored Uzbekistan’s second from the penalty spot in the 26th minute.

“As defenders, we have a responsibility to not concede goals but we did because of our mistake. However, we understood what we needed to do and tried to play better, and did play well for the rest of the match.”

Kobilov, however, said Uzbekistan must forget the win and focus on Saudi Arabia.

“We could score five goals against UAE but a different team might not give us that many opportunities.

"So in the next match, we must try to not concede and score more.”

No team has ever won the AFC U23 Championship twice, more so back-to-back, and with the top three teams to join Japan in the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, Kobilov is convinced Uzbekistan can achieve both.

“We are confident,” said the FC Bunyodkor defender. “Our main target is to defend our title and we will do our best to do so."

“The head coach told us that we have to focus on recovery now, and prepare well for Saudi Arabia. I hope we can play as well as today when we face Saudi Arabia.

“My teammates and I, along with the coaching staff, have already celebrated our victory (against UAE) on the pitch. The next target is to get the Olympics ticket.”