Tashkent, Uzbekistan (UzDaily.com) -- Uzbekistan overcame the shock of conceding an early goal to emphatically defeat Thailand 8-2 in the AFC Futsal Asian Cup™ Kuwait 2022 third-place playoff on Saturday. 

Narongsak Wingwon gave Thailand the lead in the second minute but Ikhtiyor Ropiev equalised almost immediately and  Uzbekistan didn’t look back from there on at the Saad Al Abdullah Hall.

The playoff looked set to be an enthralling match with Thailand taking the lead just two minutes in when Narongsak intercepted Khusniddin Nishonov’s pass forward and drilled his effort into the bottom right corner. 

Uzbekistan replied almost immediately, capitalising on a failed Thailand clearance with Ilkhomjon Khamroev sending the loose ball to Ropiev, who easily beat goalkeeper Katawut Hankampa.

Worasak Srirangpirot should have restored Thailand’s lead in the sixth minute when a counter-attack saw the forward collecting Hankampa’s long-range throw into the final third, before rounding keeper Rustam Imarov, only for his effort to be denied by a sliding Davron Choriev. 

It would prove to be a costly miss as Uzbekistan snatched the lead a minute later, withNishonov (pictured above) slotting home the rebound after Ropiev’s strike from a free-kick set-piece deflected off the crossbar. 

The two goals pushed Uzbekistan into overdrive and their persistence saw them double their advantage in the 14th minute when Elbek Tulkinov (pictured above, No 9) converted Mashrab Adilov’s corner-kick. 

Uzbekistan continued to dominate with Hankampa pulling off save after save, but there was little the keeper could do in the 16th minute when Nishonov let loose a crackling strike from a kick-in set-piece to secure the Central Asians a healthy lead heading into the break. 

Thailand opted for an attacking approach in the second half in a bid to salvage the tie but paid for their aggression in the 22nd minute when Krit Aransanyalak fouled Choriev at the edge of the box, with Sunatulla Juraev duly converting  the free-kick. 

A relentless Uzbekistan scored their sixth a minute later from a counter-attack with an unmarked Anaskhon Rakhmatov easily slotting home Choriev’s pass into the box. 

Thailand head coach Carlos Cesar Gago initiated power play moments later with Panut Kittipanuwong coming on, but the move backfired with Ropiev scoring his second goal of the evening in the 26th minute. 

Srirangpirot did pull one back for Thailand in the 27th minute when he dispossessed Juraev at the edge of the box, before dribbling past goalkeeper Rustam Umarov and placing his effort into the back of the net. 

Thailand’s power play only momentarily stemmed the tide, with Khamroev etching his name on the scoresheet in the 31st minute.

Despite the lost cause, Thailand pushed hard but Uzbekistan were simply uncatchable as they held on for the remaining minutes.