“Sodikov has been playing so well in this competition, but had yet to score. So I wanted him to take it, because he deserves it,” said Aliev.

The 16-year-old’s selflessness speaks volumes of his character, as Aliev currently leads the tournament’s goalscoring charts with five goals.

A sixth strike would have put daylight between him and the chasing pack.

Aliev does want more goals, but his main aim is not to chase any personal records.

“Yes I want to score more goals, to help the team. That is most important. Tonight was not only about my goals, it was about the entire team’s performance.”

Uzbekistan head coach Islombek Ismoilov commended his team’s performance, but admitted he expected more goals from them in the second half.

“I instructed them to go out and try to score more goals. They did try their best, but it wasn’t meant to be. But I’m happy nonetheless. Our aim was to apply the high press and stretch their defence,” said Ismoilov.

UAE head coach Majed Salem conceded it was too big of a hurdle for his team to mount a comeback, having gone down 3-0 at half-time.

“We played in a difficult group with Japan, Australia and Vietnam and qualified to the quarter-finals. We still managed to achieve our goal of reaching the U-17 World Cup. We wanted to progress further in the competition, but we were without some key players such as Abdulla Rasheed."

“I am still proud of my players. We will now prepare for the World Cup.”

Uzbekistan will face either Indonesia or DPR Korea in the semi-finals on Thursday.