ALMATY, Kazakhstan -- If keeping the public placated is according to ancient Roman wisdom about "bread and circuses," then Tajikistan's national soccer team is holding up its side of the bargain with aplomb.
On a heady evening on January 28, Tajikistan defeated the United Arab Emirates on penalties to reach the quarterfinals of the AFC Asian Cup in Qatar, sparking joyous scenes both on the field and more than 2,000 kilometers back home in Central Asia, where millions of residents were unable to watch thanks to nighttime electricity blackouts.
The emotional release wasn't just due to the fact that the U.A.E.'s national team is ranked more than 40 places ahead of Tajikistan in FIFA's international rankings -- or that Tajikistan is appearing in Asia's premier soccer tournament for the first time.
Rather it was the way they won, for the second time in a row, with that penchant for drama that has become a trademark of this Tajik team under the leadership of uber-charismatic Croatian coach Petar Segrt.
With very moderate expectations going into the tournament, Segrt's side has already delivered hope, something unfamiliar to one of the poorest countries to gain independence from the Soviet Union.
And having invested financial and political capital into the sport in recent years, the authoritarian republic's rulers will be more than happy to take the credit.
The 'Tajik Lions' And Their 'Einstein'
The second-round Asian Cup tie on January 28 was not the most prestigious game that the 45,000-seat Ahmad bin Ali Stadium on the outskirts of Doha has hosted in its three years of existence.
That would likely be the second-round World Cup match between Argentina and Australia that sent Lionel Messi and friends on their way to sport's biggest prize in 2022.
But the Tajik players certainly rivaled the Argentinians in their celebrations after a victory that ranked among the country's biggest-ever sporting successes.
The knockout game with U.A.E. had been teed up in sufficiently dramatic fashion after Tajikistan beat Lebanon 2-1 after a tying goal in the 80th minute and a winner two minutes into stoppage time in their last game in the group stage.
They were Tajikistan's first goals of the tournament after a scoreless draw with China -- who had a goal controversially disallowed -- and losing 1-0 to the hosts, Qatar, in the second game.
After the victory against Lebanon, the players mobbed a delighted Segrt -- whose mustache and sometimes unkempt hair have seen him likened to Albert Einstein -- smashing his glasses in the process.
Writing on a Facebook group called Football of Tajikistan, one commenter celebrated "a new page in the country's football history," while making an oblique reference to perceived poor refereeing in the defeat against Qatar.
"Despite all the injustice, arrogance, and incompetence, the Tajik lions have proven that it is impossible to break the Tajiks and Tajikistan," wrote the commenter.
If the Lebanon game was about snatching victory from the jaws of defeat, the fixture against U.A.E. was very nearly the reverse.
Tajikistan took the lead in the first half after two of the team's defenders combined for a stylish header goal before missing several good chances to extend it.
The Emiratis then equalized in the 94th minute and looked likely to get an extratime winner before penalties intervened.
Cue five perfect Tajik penalty kicks and one U.A.E. penalty saved by the Tajik goalkeeper. Cue bedlam. Cue Tajik players piling on top of each other and getting down on their haunches and yelling like men possessed.
Cue Segrt leading a chorus of "Tojikiston, ba pesh!" (Go forward, Tajikstan!) in front of the Central Asian country's supporters -- vastly outnumbered by glum-faced Arab but notably backed up by fans from Tajikistan's larger neighbor Uzbekistan, which is also doing well in the tournament.
And now for a February 2 quarterfinal with Jordan -- a difficult but far from insurmountable opponent -- ahead of a potential semifinal against Australia or South Korea.
That would be big time.
'Bring Harmony To The People'
"Go forward, Tajikistan" is a phrase made famous in a speech by Tajikistan's veteran authoritarian leader, Emomali Rahmon, which has since become universal at sporting events involving national teams.
Prior to the game against Lebanon -- and in the middle of his diplomatic visit to Qatar -- the long-serving strongman dropped in on the football players to provide some words of inspiration.
According to the state information agency Khovar, the footballers "expressed gratitude to the Leader of the Nation for constant support and encouragement and noted that in response to this care and support, it will make every effort to earn [his] trust" as well as the trust of Rahmon's powerful son, Rustam Emomali, and the people of Tajikistan.
The team gave Rahmon a signed football and a national team jersey with "Emomali Rahmon" and the number one printed on the back.
While the ruling Rahmon family is accused by its critics of a lot of ugly things -- systemic corruption and heavy-handed repression to name a few -- they cannot be accused of neglecting the "beautiful game."
In fact, Tajik soccer's development has grown in parallel with the profile of Rustam Emomali, currently chief of the national federation, mayor of the capital city Dushanbe, chairman of the upper house of Tajikistan's legislature, and his 71-year-old father's presumed heir.
For the last several years the federation's work has been guided by a program called Orzu 2026 (Dream 2026), which aims to get Tajikistan qualified for a World Cup.
While the program has nine main directions, there has been a special focus on targeting success for the national team in age-restricted youth tournaments and developing grassroots football.
Some of the young players on the current national team are graduates of this effort.
A separate, but seemingly government-directed initiative was the founding of a Dushanbe academy of the famous Italian soccer club Juventus, with both Rustam Emomali and Rahmon present at the opening.
RFE/RL Tajik Service sources in the Dushanbe business community have disclosed that Emomali and other top officials have in the past asked them for "voluntary contributions" toward soccer infrastructure and development projects.
Segrt's 2022 appointment as the national team's head coach was an investment for the present, rather than the future, with his contract so far running only to the end of Asian Cup.
No stranger to international soccer after stints managing the national teams of Georgia, the Maldives, and Afghanistan, the 57-year-old Segrt is the antithesis of an aloof outsider hired strictly for technical expertise.
Speaking after the group stage win over Lebanon, Segrt said that "9.5 million people" had scored the winning goal -- a reference to the population of Tajikistan, a country he called a country of "fighters."
A Reuters news report after the upset over U.A.E. quoted the coach as calling Tajikistan his "first country" when asked whether he might consider staying as coach after the tournament and that his priority was to "make and bring harmony to the people."
For citizens of a former Soviet republic which, like Segrt's native Croatia, spent the first years of independence embroiled in a vicious military conflict, such warm words will mean the world.
But a place in the AFC Asian Cup semifinals will mean even more.
