After defeating Japan 3–1, Uzbekistan win their maiden 2012 AFC U-16 Championship held in Iran. PHOTO: Asianfootballfeast.

Background: Uzbekistan enter the tournament as defending champions of the 2012 AFC U-16 Championship and the runner up of the 2010 campaign. However before 2010, youth football in Uzbekistan wasn't as successful as today. With the team hitting the ceiling at the group stages, or even failing to qualify. With the rapid development of football in Uzbekistan, the teams at the U-16 level have improved greatly. They have even performed impressively at the U-17 World Cup, reaching the quarter finals in 2011 and the round of 16 in 2013.

In preparation for Bangkok, Uzbekistan have organised friendlies with the UAE (Lost both matches, 2–0 and 2–1) and Oman (TBD). As well as appearing in the 2014 U-17 Caspian Cup, where they lost all but 3 of their matches with Turkey (Lost 2–0), Japan (Lost Pens: 5–3), and Kyrgyzstan (Lost 1–0). Their only win was during their opening game against neighbours Kazakhstan (Won 8–1).

Qualification campaign: 9–0 win over Palestine, and 4–0 win over Yemen. (Maldives withdrew).

Danger man: Khuchimov (4 goals)

Other players: Ganiev (2 goals), Nurmatov (2 goals)

The verdict: Uzbekistan are a formidable team. However the team are now only a shadow of what they once were in 2010 and 2012. Nevertheless, recent trend tells us that Uzbekistan are progressing upwards. So they mustn't be downplayed based on their poor U-17 Caspian Cup performance.