“Nothing has been lost, we still have a chance,” said Kasimov.

“It was a big match between two big teams in the group. The final result was a 1-0 win for Korea and we are now relying on Korea to play better against Iran on June 18. We also have to face Qatar and I think we can win to qualify for the World Cup. I expect Korea to remain professional and play professionally against Iran.”

Having begun the penultimate round of fixtures level on points with Korea at the top of Group A, Uzbekistan had their chances at a damp Seoul World Cup Stadium although goalkeeper Jung Sung-ryong dealt competently with any threats which mainly came from long range efforts.

“There is no reason to look for people who are responsible for the defeat. The team played the game not individual players. We need to improve our game as a team not individually and remove the mistakes,” added Kasimov.

“But this is the first time I have seen Korea tired at the end of a match because we played well and gave them a hard time during the game. We did our best and one or two players are not responsible for the defeat.

“This does not mean we will not work on our mistakes and we will watch the DVD for our weak points and see what we can do.”