China sealed their place in the last four of the AFC U20 Women’s Asian Cup Thailand after defeating Uzbekistan 2-1 in the quarter-finals at Thammasat Stadium last night.
The win means the 2006 champions will now face Japan in Wednesday’s semi-final, while also earning one of the four tickets to the FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cup Poland 2026.
China’s attempts to assert dominance began early, with Xie Zongmei taking a shot from the right in the third minute, which Uzbekistan goalkeeper Ezoza Sevinova did well to punch away.
The rebound fell to Zeng Yujia in the centre of the box, but her effort was blocked by the Uzbekistan defenders.
Ten minutes later, Xie Zongmei set up Yujia with an aerial cross from the left, but the defender’s attempt inside the box was cleared by Shahnoza Dekanbaeva.
The young Steel Roses succeeded in breaking through the Uzbekistan defence in the 28th minute when Yu Jiaqi sped down the left flank before delivering a curling cross into the box. Zeng Yujia rose at the goalmouth to meet it, sending the ball into the centre of the goal.
China doubled their lead four minutes before the break when Xie Zongmei weaved past several defenders to unleash a left-footed effort from the left side of the box.
While Sevinova initially saved the attempt, the rebound fell kindly to an unmarked Yu Jiaqi, whose close-range strike grazed the Uzbekistan goalkeeper’s glove before finding the bottom-left corner.
It was then Wang Aifang who tried to get her name on the scoresheet next when in the 56th, the number 10’s effort from a tight angle near the left byline was kept out by Sevinova.
Moments later, Li Ke came close to adding to China’s tally when she met Xie Zongmei’s cross from the left with a header, only to see her effort denied by the crossbar.
Li Ke once again made contact with the ball in the 65th minute, this time meeting Wang’s delivery from a corner, but the woodwork once more came to the Central Asians’ rescue.
The Vladimir Panov-led side were handed a lifeline on the 70-minute mark when Mehribon Egamberdieva nutmegged Wu Jiaxuan inside the six-yard box after latching onto Asalkhon Aminjonova’s lateral pass from the right side of the box.
Uzbekistan had a golden opportunity to restore parity in the 78th minute when Dekanbaeva broke down the left flank, but at the crucial moment, China PR captain Liu Ling caught up to clear the danger.
The Central Asians had yet another chance to draw level when Mariya Dakhova met Aminjonova’s delivery from the ensuing corner, but her close-range attempt from the goal mouth was cleared by Xiao Yafei as China took the win.
