The Uzbeks gave an impressive display in front of a packed Pakhtakor Stadium, playing at their attacking best in the first half as skipper Abbosbek Makhstaliev headed them into the lead after 35 minutes.

Syria hit back after the hour mark, with Hussam Omr doing the damage, but just when the game looked destined for extra-time, star striker Timur Khakimov headed in his fifth goal of the tournament, seven minutes from time to keep Uzbekistan in title contention and give them the added bonus of a place in the FIFA U-17 World Cup.

Evstafeev, who before the match revealed he had a “surprise” up his sleeve for the West Asians, said:

“Today we had a very good and a very hard opponent. The game was hard as well. It was a game of two different halves.

“In the first half, Syria tried to play around their striker Omr, with a lot of combination football. But in the second half they played a lot of like English-type football, putting in a lot of crosses.

“Our main target was to play along the ground. But we got two goals from headers, which was the surprise,” he added with a wry smile.

“My players showed their best abilities to achieve the desired result and I thank them.”

And on Khakimov, who is one of the favourites to win the golden boot in this tournament, Evstafeev said:

“I think he is a very talented footballer. I like the way he works very hard in training. He never stops progressing.

“I’d like to see him as a big professional player in the future.”

Syria coach Mohammad Al Jomaa was left searching for answers over his team’s defeat, given their strong comeback in the second half that got them the equaliser.

He said: “We played very well and we had the correct general idea about Uzbekistan. Maybe it was God’s will or maybe it was something else, but they won.

“When we got our goal, we went on to create a few more chances to score our second, but sadly for us it was Uzbekistan’s day.”

And the remaining teams in the competition would do well to heed his parting words, as he warned:

“Football is a game of mistakes. Whoever makes more of them loses the game.”