Igor Sergeev's penalty finally broke the deadlock with ten minutes at the Emirates Club Stadium before a stunning Timur Khakimov effort sealed the victory four minutes later.

Uzbekistan's win ensured they topped the standings with seven points while DPR Korea were beaten to the other quarter-final ticket by Jordan, who hammered Vietnam 5-2 in the in the other Group C match kicking-off simultaneously over in Fujairah to take second place ahead of the defending champions.

"We were on the top in the first half but the boys showed weakness in the second half and we paid the price for it," An lamented at the post-match press conference.

"The Uzbeks came strong in the second half but we are to blame for the defeat as we should have controlled the midfield instead of allowing the game to be played in our territory.

"I am not sure about the penalty but we never should have allowed them to be in that position."

Uzbekistan coach Akhmadjan Musaev, meanwhile, hailed his team's spirit but also said that the Uzbeks coaching staff had done their homework on Thursday's opponents and implemented their game plan accordingly.

"We had worked very hard for this match. After watching both of their previous matches we made our tactics accordingly and the boys were on the spot.

"We were by no way playing for the draw as my players play only to win.

"They have a winning mentality so there was no way we wanted a draw from this match despite knowing that we could sneak through in the quarter-final with a point.

"They had tall players in the squad so we began the match cautiously and more defensively which was why we were not at our best in the first half. But as their players tired we started opening up and ended up getting the goals that took us through."