Uzbekistan's joy at reaching the first AFC Asian Cup semi-final in their relatively short history was subsequently tempered as Holger Osieck's side took them apart with a ruthlessly efficient display at Khalifa Stadium.

It was the third time the two nations had met and the third time the Australians had come out on top with the Central Asians still to even hit the back of the net against their continental rivals.

However, the margin of Tuesday's victory came as a shock to even the most seasoned of observers given Uzbekistan's impressive performances prior to the last four encounter.

While Ulugbek Bakaev's second-half dismissal undoubtedly contributed to the severity of the score-line, Uzbekistan were already 3-0 down when the striker received his marching orders and Haydarov stressed he is keen to show the world that their collective performance was not a typical display from his side.

“I hope that in other competitions we can play against Australia again and show that the result was just a one-off,” he said.

Nevertheless, Haydarov still felt moved enough by the result to again apologise to the country's fans.

“I'm sorry for the Uzbek people because we could not achieve our goal of reaching the final and lift the cup. It was very difficult for us after the 6-0 defeat to Australia,” he added.

“I'm very sorry for it and I ask the Uzbek fans to stay with us and support us.”

The Australia result aside, Uzbekistan in truth have little to apologise for having achieved their best-ever result at the AFC Asian Cup.

They now take on Korea Republic on Friday in the third-place play-off at Al Sadd Stadium with the winners guaranteed a place in the 2015 edition of Asia's showpiece tournament in Australia, which would be a fitting setting for Haydarov and Uzbekistan to gain redemption for their Doha nightmare.