A second-half double from Dostonbek Khamdamov has stunned Austria and seen Uzbekistan advance into the quarter-finals of the Under-20 World Cup.
The Central Asians qualified for the second stage only after beating Fiji in their final group game, but they belied that underwhelming preparation with a professional display against the unbeaten Austrians.
Uzbekistan controlled much of the flow of play in Whangarei and, although they were unable to forge as many opportunities as their opponents, they were far more clinical when they earned a sight of goal. They were also the beneficiaries of some rather generous defence, with both goals perhaps preventable.
The first arrived a couple of minutes into the second spell, when Khamdamov took advantage of an acre of space in the centre of the Austrian backline to latch onto a well-weighted ball over the top and finish calmly past goalkeeper Tino Casali.
And the striker doubled his side's lead 10 minutes later when, after Austria failed to deal with a loose ball in the box, Rustamjon Ashurmatov's shot cannoned off the post and into Khamdamov's path.
