Uzbekistan opened the scoring on the stroke of half-time at Zibo Sports Centre when they took advantage of some poor defending from their opponents. Alibobo Rakhmatullaev's cross from the right was headed by Mohammed Al Wuhaili straight to Akramjon Bahritdinov and the midfielder made no mistake from 10 yards to put his side in front.

They wrapped up their third consecutive victory and a date with Saudi Arabia in the last eight almost on the whistle when Sardor Mirzayev side-footed home Sardor Rashidov's cross first-time from inside the area.

“We knew before this match that we'd already qualified with first place in the group and we had the choice to keep the same side or give the opportunity to the reserves to play,” Kabaev said.

“We decided to give the reserves a chance and they were able to show their abilities to play at a good level.”

Having previously seen off DPR Korea and Bahrain by 1-0 score lines, Uzbekistan are clearly among the teams to watch as the business end of the tournament approaches.

However, Kabaev believes his side can still improve, with key decision-making of particular concern.

“Of course, I'm not completely happy with the performance of the team over the three games,” he added.

“Their ability to think fast can improve. The players, they are very good technically but their thinking is a little bit slower than is necessary for them to play further matches at a good level.”

Iraq exit the tournament with no points and only one goal to their name, much to coach Hassan Al Saati's disappointment.

“We did not do well,” he said.

“We lost because the players did not follow the coach's instructions. Uzbekistan were the better side and won because they took advantage of all their chances.

“My team did not show the required level that I would've liked.”

However, Al Saati pointed to the political situation in his home country as a mitigating factor for their performances.

“We did not get enough time to prepare due to the situation in Iraq,” he added.

“It is very difficult to get the whole team together.”