DOHA — The Saudi Olympic football team bid farewell to the U-23 Asian Cup in Doha, falling out in the quarterfinals and thus losing their chance to qualify for the Paris 2024 Olympics. They faced a 2-0 defeat to Uzbekistan, a match complicated further when the Saudi team was reduced to ten men following Ayman Yahya's second yellow card at the 70th minute. Uzbekistan scored the opening goal just before the halftime break through Husniddin Nortojiyev, who managed to dribble past goalkeeper Mohammed Al-Abassi and score. Omar Ali Rakhmonaliev secured Uzbekistan's victory with a header from a rebound six minutes before the match ended. The defeat has been particularly disappointing for Saudi Arabia, as it not only sees them exit the tournament but also miss out on a direct qualification spot for the upcoming Olympics, which could have been secured by reaching the final stages of the competition.
