Making their Asian Cup debut, Tajikistan will take on China in Group A action at the Abdullah bin Khalifa Stadium in Qatar on Saturday.
The Chinese punched their ticket into this tournament by finishing second in their second-round qualifying group behind Syria, while the Crowns topped their third-round qualification group to advance into this competition for the first time.
Aleksandar Jankovic began coaching this program at the youth level years ago before becoming the senior manager in February 2023.
The 51-year-old Serbian's side are not in great form heading into this tournament, losing three successive matches in all competitions, including a 3-0 home defeat versus South Korea in 2026 World Cup qualifying.
While they began 2024 by losing a friendly to Hong Kong for the first time in 29 years (2-1), Dragon's Team have made it beyond the group stage of the previous two Asian Cup tournaments before being knocked out in the quarter-finals.
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