Zeise: 'we fought for our lives'

Having not progressed into the final four since 1971, the seven-time champions finally ended their lengthy drought with a priceless goal from Than Paing in the second-half that sent the hosts through to Monday's semi-final in Yangon, and qualified them for a historic first-ever appearance at the FIFA U-20 World Cup in 2015.

"I don't have a hat but if I did I would take it off to them in respect," said German Zeise.

"The UAE are a strong team, we had to fight for our life, it wasn't beautiful but you can't expect that when you play for the big points."

Zeise revealed his plan was to soak up pressure by playing a 5-3-2 defensive formation but Yan Naing Oo, a new comer to the line-up for tonight's game, helped change the system to a more attacking 3-5-2.

"For us, we were glad to have the UAE piling on pressure in the first half, in the heat of the game we hoped they would lose some power for the second half," added Zeise.

"I told Yan Naing Oo at half-time, you must press forward when we have the ball and he followed those instructions well."

Zeise believes focusing on his team's mental preparation for this game helped Myanmar hit their form when it mattered most.

"Our main target was to win the first game [in the group stages against Yemen] and to win the fourth, the quarter-final; we didn't win the first game but we found the win when it mattered most," said Zeise.

"The 2-0 loss to Iran in our final group game was a disaster; the team were nervous and didn't play well, so it was very good to have a break before the quarter-final stage and to use this time for talking about the mental side of the game."

"UAE had their chances but none were clear cut, we stood firm in our defence.

"I was nervous at the end of time added on, when we conceded a free-kick on the edge of the box, but the way our defence played today, we could have played for another 20 minutes and they would not score."