Soccer-Uzbekistan at the Asian Cup

Dec 29 (Reuters) - Factbox on the Uzbekistan team ahead of
the Asian Cup, which takes place in the United Arab Emirates
from Jan 5 to Feb 1:

FIFA world ranking: 95
Ranking in Asia: 14
Previous Asian Cups: 6
Best performance: Fourth place (2011)
2015: Quarter-finals

Nickname: White Wolves
Coach: Hector Cuper
Regular captain: Odil Ahmedov
Player to watch: Odiljon Xamrobekov

Recent form:
Sept 11 Uzbekistan 0-1 Iran Tashkent
Oct 13 Uzbekistan 2-0 North Korea Tashkent
Oct 16 Uzbekistan 2-0 Qatar Tashkent
Nov 15 Uzbekistan 0-0 Lebanon Gdansk
Nov 20 Uzbekistan 0-4 South Korea Brisbane

Fixtures:
Group F
Jan 9 Uzbekistan v Oman Sharjah
Jan 13 Turkmenistan v Uzbekistan Dubai
Jan 17 Japan v Uzbekistan Al Ain

Uzbekistan's neat passing game has made them Asian Cup
regulars since the nation emerged from the Soviet Union and they
will be looking to finally go a step further than their single
semi-final spot in 2011 under former Valencia coach Cuper.
Versatile midfielder Odiljon Xamrobekov was the standout
player when the White Wolves won the under-23 Asian Cup in
January and he will no doubt feature somehwere in Cuper's side.
The Uzbeks did not enjoy a stellar 2018 otherwise but should
have enough quality to get out of Group F, even if it is behind
four-times champions Japan.


(Compiled by Shrivathsa Sridhar in Bengaluru; editing by
Sudipto Ganguly)