Uzbekistan knocked Group C favourites China out of the Asian Cup with a stunning 3-0 upset victory at the Shah Alam Stadium in Jakarta on Wednesday.
All three goals came via free kicks as Dynamo Kiev striker Maksim Shatskikh, midfielder Timur Kapadze and veteran Alexander Geynrikh struck late in the second half to break the hearts of the 2004 runners-up.
Iran finished top of the group on seven points after their 2-0 win over co-hosts Malaysia earlier on Wednesday, with Uzbekistan second on six points. China finished with four points and Malaysia lost all three matches.
China needed only a draw to qualify after a 5-1 victory over Malaysia and a 2-2 draw with Iran. Uzbekistan, who thrashed Malaysia 5-0 after losing 2-1 to Iran, needed to win to reach the last eight.
The match was marred by a serious neck injury to Chinese forward Han Peng who was taken to hospital after a collision with Uzbek goalkeeper Hayrulla Karimov in the final minutes.
Uzbekistan travel to Jakarta to face Saudi Arabia in the quarter-finals on Sunday. Iran stay in Malaysia to take on South Korea.
After a dour first half, Uzbekistan stunned the Chinese fans by taking the lead in the 72nd minute.
Substitute Victor Karpenko floated a free kick into the box and Shatskikh rose to head goalwards. Chinese stand-in keeper Yang Jun failed to hold on and Shatskikh volleyed in the rebound for his third goal of the competition.
Uzbekistan made it 2-0 on 86 minutes. Karpenko aimed his 25-yard effort straight at Yang, who was helpless as the ball bounced off his legs and Kapadze ran in to score.
Geynrikh sealed victory with a goal deep into injury time. His free kick from 25 yards came off the wall but Geynrikh collected the rebound to shoot through a crowd of players and into the net.
South Korea advance
South Korea scraped into the quarter-finals with a fraught 1-0 win over Indonesia in their final Group D game.
The victory, coupled with Saudi Arabia's 4-0 hammering of Bahrain, sent the 2002 World Cup semi-finalists into last eight after going into the last round of matches bottom of the standings.
Kim Jung-woo scored the priceless goal for South Korea in the 34th minute, but they were made to sweat in a torrid second half as Indonesia threw everything into attack.
South Korea were the stronger team throughout at a hostile Gelora Bung Karno Stadium but failed once again to kill the game off. The Koreans had surrendered one-goal leads to Saudi Arabia and Bahrain through defensive lapses in earlier group games.
Indonesia failed to create any real clear-cut chances but gave a good account of themselves against what coach Ivan Kolev said was one of the strongest teams in Asia.
"I am disappointed because we didn't quality, but also proud as my players as they fought to the death," Kolev said.
"From the very first match they played at their best, even though we knew that our opponents were all very strong."
South Korea face Group C winners Iran in the quarter-finals in Malaysia on Sunday.
