Neither side could break the deadlock in the regulation ninety minutes, during which Pakhtakor’s Nigerian striker Uche Iheruome and Aziz Khaydarov from Kuruvchi were sent off, and both periods of extra-time also ended goalless, sending the tie into penalties.

With Pakhtakor leading 7-6, goalkeeper Timur Djuraev emerged the hero for the Cotton Pickers by saving Rashid Gafurov’s spot-kick to hand the Tashkent giants their seventh straight cup final and ninth overall following victories in 1993 and 1997.

Both Pakhtakor and Uzbek league runners-up Kuruvchi have qualified for the 2008 AFC Champions League, the draw for which takes place on December 17 at AFC House in Kuala Lumpur.