Quickfire first half goals from Yang Liyu and Li Xiaoming saw table-topping China head into the break two goals to the good, a lead that Maddaloni was not about to let his young charges get carried away with.

“After the first half, [head coach] Maddaloni told us not to be too complacent,” declared the 22-year-old who has just joined Chinese Super League outfit Beijing Guoan.

“He said that we needed to keep [the momentum] up during the second half. We duly followed his instructions and we won the match.

“We played well and put in a great performance. I think everyone deserves 90 out of 100.”

The defeat, which saw all three of China’s goals come from converted crosses, leaves the Omanis propping up group A, and now desperate to get something out of their clash with Qatar on Friday at the Changzhou Olympic Sports Center if they are to have any chance of progressing to the tournament’s knockout phase.

“We will learn from our mistakes,” the 18-year-old told the-AFC.com.

“(After losing to China) we now need to think more about our next two games. We will fix our mistakes and we need to win the next two matches.”

Goals from Yang Liyu, Li Xiaoming and Wei Shihao proved the difference on a bitterly cold afternoon, as China laid down an impressive early marker in a group which saw Qatar beat Uzbekistan 1-0 in their opening tie. 

In what would prove to be an entertaining opening period, it was China who threatened first, Yang seeing his shot from 12 yards smothered by the visiting defence, and Beijing Guoan forward Wei forcing a smart save from Oman goalkeeper Ibrahim Al Mukhaini with 18 minutes gone.

With China in the ascendancy, Oman’s defence was to be breached twice in quick succession, as first Yang expertly converted Li Shuai’s pinpoint delivery on the half hour mark, and then Li Xiaoming headed home Wei’s superb floated cross to double his side’s advantage just four minutes later.

The Al Duhail forward’s goal leaves Qatar second in Group A behind table-topping China PR who beat Oman 3-0 in the day’s earlier game.

In a closely fought first half, it was Uzbekistan who dominated the early proceedings, Zabikhillo Urinboev firing inches over following a neat interchange of passes with Dostonbek Khamdamov on the edge of the area after 14 minutes.

Qatar responded well however, with dynamic captain Ahmad Moein, a member of the squad when his country finished fourth at the tournament’s last edition in 2016, fizzing a shot narrowly wide shortly after the half hour mark.

With Qatar clearly growing in confidence, midfielder Salem Al Hajri then rattled the Uzbekistan bar courtesy of a rasping drive from distance as the opening period came to an entertaining close.