Football
Reuters 17y

Soccer-Underdogs Uzbekistan ready for anything, says coach

By Peter Rutherford

JAKARTA, July 21 - Uzbekistan coach Rauf Inileyev
is ready for anything in Sunday's Asian Cup quarter-final
against Saudi Arabia -- from penalty kicks to Samba style
soccer.

The Uzbeks had been given little chance of advancing from
Group C, but after a narrow defeat to powerhouse Iran they
thumped co-hosts Malaysia 5-0 and dumped China out of the
competition with a 3-0 thrashing in the last group game.

That sequence of results showed there was no such thing as
certainties in football and that every game had the potential
for surprise, said Inileyev.

"In Group C we had China, one of the strongest teams in
Asia, and they played almost an English style of football," he
told a news conference on Saturday.

"We also had Iran, another strong team, who have a German
style.

"Saudi Arabia have a Brazilian coach, so they must play a
Brazilian kind of football!"

Uzbekistan have never gone beyond the quarter-finals of the
Asian Cup, but Inileyev said now was the time to do it and
being the underdogs against three-times winners Saudi Arabia
did not trouble him.

"There is a first time for everything in life," he said.

"We are a young country but our ambitions are high. In
Group C people were saying China and Iran were the favourites,
but Uzbekistan proved them wrong."

Inileyev said the last eight of the competition provided a
"cup game" mentality, where draws did not exist. There would be
a winner on Sunday, in 90 minutes, extra-time or the dreaded
penalty kicks.

"At this stage of the Asian Cup, penalty kicks will be one
of the key factors in qualifying for the next round," he said.

"But they are a lottery."

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