Asian Cup: late penalty rescues UAE again as Mathew Ryan saves Australia in shoot-out win
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A knee-wobbling, chest-thumping Mathew Ryan saved two spot kicks as the Socceroos beat Uzbekistan’s White Wolves in a shoot-out, while the Blue Samurai bundled out Saudi Arabia.
Substitute Ahmed Khalil was UAE’s hero on an angst-ridden Abu Dhabi night as he converted another late penalty after a refereeing decision that could charitably be described as “soft”.
“I don’t want to talk about the referee,” growled Kyrgyzstan coach Aleksandr Krestinin.
“We leave the tournament with a lot of regrets – we deserved more. It’s our first Asian Cup but I’m absolutely sure it won’t be our last and we will come back stronger.”
Kyrgyz substitute Tursunali Rustamov had stunned the Emirates when he snatched a dramatic stoppage-time equaliser at the end of a nail-biting contest that began so poorly for the former Soviet republic.
It took the home side just 14 minutes to break through as Khamis Esmaeel headed in an Ismail Matar corner.
