Tajikistan, pictured training at the Ghoshamahal Stadium, must beat Afghanistan or their reign as AFC Challenge Cup champions is over.

HYDERABAD – Tajikistan know that a win against Afghanistan on Sunday is imperative even though the defending champions’ hopes of staying in the AFC Challenge Cup will be determined by results elsewhere.

Should either India or Turkmenistan emerge victorious from the other match which kicks off simultaneously then a triumph over the Afghans will take the defending champions through as Group A runners-up.

However, a victory for the Tajiks of any margin will be meaningless if Turkmenistan and India draw 2-2 or higher.

A Tajik win and a tie in the other game will see the three teams go level on five points and with the trio having all drawn in the matches between themselves,  the deciding factor will be the amount of goals Tajikistan, India, and Turkmenistan have scored against each other.

Therefore a draw of 2-2 or more would see the tournament hosts and the Turkmen advance.

With the game between Tajikistan and Turkmenistan having finished goalless, a 1-1 draw at the Gachibowli Stadium on Sunday will take India through, with Bob Houghton’s side finding the net once against the Tajiks in the second round of Group A matches.

If the Turkmen score one against India their tally between the top three will be the same as Tajikistan's meaning that the second semi-final spot will be determined by their overall goal difference between teh Central Asian neighbours

And with Turkmenistan holding a healthy plus five compared to Tajikistan’s zero goal difference going into the final round of group stage matches, Kodirov’s side must come out with all guns blazing against the Afghans on Sunday.

"We have only one task tomorrow as we must win in order to advance to the semi-finals," said Kodirov. "We must get a victory and perform well in order to qualify from the group.

"We are concentrating only on that mission.

"There are no easy teams in the tournament because this is the final stage of the competition and all the matches are difficult," he added.

"I can only tell if the match is hard or easy after the game."

Kodirov admitted that the team are badly missing the foreign-based trio of Akmal Kholmatov, Farkhod Vasiev and Dilshod Vasiev.

"Their absence has affected us heavily," he said. "If they were present with the team we would have got better results in the first two matches and we would have had better performances."

Afghanistan have yet to manage a point but coach Yusuf Kargar believes that his side have gained valuable experience from the tournament which will help them in the future.

"We lost two games but we will go into this match in good condition and will try our best to get a good result in order to improve our record in the competition," said Kargar.

"In 2006 we played in a competition which included 16 teams while this year we are among the best eight teams and that is good for us.

"There will be no major changes in the team from the one that played against Turkmenistan," added Kargar.
"We have some players who are recovering from slight knocks and if they are not fit then they will be replaced.

"The tournament was a good experience for our young players as they got international experience from playing in a tough group with India, Tajikistan and Turkmenistan. It will be good experience for the future.”