The recriminations would begin even before the UAE had rumbled out of Al Rayyan, their early departure from Doha decided. Asian Cup semi-finalists in the past two editions – and runners-up in 1996 – they were outdone by tournament debutants on Sunday night, Tajikistan’s stirring story in Qatar continuing into the last eight.
Paulo Bento’s decision to banish Ali Mabkhout will form the principal point of the debrief, but at the Khalifa International Stadium the former Portugal international would be left to rue the uncertainty of a penalty shootout.
In the end, Tajikistan displayed remarkable resolve to seal a second successive victory, days after their first in Asian Cup history.
A 5-3 win on spot-kicks came after Petar Segrt’s indefatigable side were through in normal time and then pegged back deep in nearly the very last moment, when Khalifa Al Hammadi flicked home from a free-kick in the 95th minute to cancel out Vakhdat Khanonov’s first-half header.