Iranians Foolad dominated their Uzbek opponents from start to finish as they ran out comfortable 12-1 winners and though Stroitel battled hard against AUB in an attempt to restore pride, a last-minute strike from Erkin Tabaldiev settled the match.

“After the game against Foolad it was very difficult for us to recover psychologically,” said Mamedov (pictured).

“I wanted us to defend more rather than attack but in the second half maybe the physical condition of our players went down.

“I am very disappointed we tried to win but we failed.”

Stroitel twice held a two-goal advantage over AUB but their Kyrgyzstan opponents battled back on each occasion with Brazilian duo Etienne and Geraldo providing the inspiration.

“The two teams played very well," added Mamedov. "The Kyrgyzstan team had two Brazilian players who helped them get the win.

“Unfortunately we lost but we will analyse the performance and see our mistakes and fix things for the future.”

AUB captain Etienne, meanwhile, was pleased with the performance of his side throughout the tournament though refused to predict who could go on to lift the trophy.

“Our clubs are not professional clubs and we just have amateur leagues so it has been hard for us," he said.

“The Iranian team is one of the strongest as they have eight international players in their squad but we cannot judge who will make it to the final just yet.”