“I congratulate everyone and thank the Uzbekistan fans in the stadium. I think we showed high-quality football, and this game was ours to win. Our main focus was to attack and in the next game, we can show improvements,” said the 20-year-old midfielder, who was named player of the match.

 

“Last year, we won the AFC U20 Asian Cup™, and winning that has given me the confidence boost to step into the senior team.

 

“The game against Australia will be interesting. On paper, they may be the favourites. But it’s 11 v 11, and we have every opportunity; it's a level playing field, and I believe in my teammates. We all need to focus on Australia. We need to recover well for the upcoming game.”

Head coach Srecko Katanec was pleased with his team’s performance, praising them for their fluidity and drive.

 

"I’m very satisfied and happy with the players’ performance. We had nice movements, good shots on goal. We did well on and off the ball, finding space. If we play like this against Australia, I'm confident we can win,” said Katanec.

“We were better tactically because we pressed them high, and we have better players. If you have good players, better than other teams, you will be at an advantage.

 

“Fazy (Fayzullaev) is a wonderful player; he plays for CSKA Moscow in the Russian Premier League. It's a good league, and he has benefited from the quality of the football over there. I have no problem giving chances to young players at 20 years old. They should be ready to play international football by then, instead of waiting till they reach 23.”

Two consecutive defeats have left India’s chances of advancing to the knockout stage hanging by a thread with head coach Igor Stimac urging his players to regroup for their clash against Syria on Tuesday.

 

"It was an exciting game; congratulations to Uzbekistan. Although we had opportunities to score, we couldn't capitalise on them. Despite some silly mistakes, I could find satisfaction in the overall performance,” said Stimac.

“However, the reality is that with too many key players missing, our options were limited, and their absence was evident in terms of strength and speed.

 

"As we have an important match against Syria approaching, we must learn lessons from this game. Most of the boys performed admirably today. However, limitations in passing, especially in certain areas, gave our opponents too many opportunities.”

 

India need to win if they are to stand a chance of progressing as one of the best four third-placed teams, with Syria also needing victory.