Syria emerged Group E champions in the AFC U-23 Championship Qualifiers to seal a berth in the 16-team final round after beating pre-championship favourites Uzbekistan 2-1 in their last match at the Bangabandhu National Stadium yesterday.
The West Asian nation, which sits 80 places below their Central Asian counterparts, rode on two first-half strikes from their premier marksman Omar Kharbin to seal the outright qualification spot for the AFC U-23 Championship, which will be held in Qatar in January, 2016.
Kharbin, a 21-year-old International with five goals in 16 matches for the senior side, gave the Syrians the lead in the 28th minute with a nod at the far post after Mahmoud Albaher's header was parried back to his path by Uzbekistan goalkeeper Akmal Tursunbaev. 
The stocky striker then converted from the spot in the stoppage time of the first half to notch his sixth goal of the campaign and put his side in a commanding position.
Uzbekistan, who needed a win in this match to seal the outright qualification spot, reduced the margin in the 57th minute, thanks to a perfectly-placed grounder from Abbosbek Makhstaliev. 
The Uzbeks went close to an equaliser in the final minute of regulation time when Jamshed Iskanderov beautifully set up Sardor Rakhmanov on the edge of the box, but the Uzbek forward's drive was blocked by Tursunbaev.
The defeat means the highly fancied Uzbeks will have to wait for the other qualifying groups to finish to find out whether they can grab one of the five best runners-up spots for the final round.