"We agreed to set tactics aside and focus on giving our best to win," said Utqir Yusupov.

"We are pleased with the game. I'm happy that we earned three points. Everyone played their hardest. We talked a day ago – we agreed to forget about tactics and just give our all, and then we would win. As you can see, everyone gave their all on the field," says Utquir Yusupov.

For your information, in the match against North Korea in Tashkent, our goalkeeper also saved a penalty, contributing to our team's victory.

"I am just doing my job." Katanec addressed the AFC, discussing the difficult conditions, the penalty, the coaching change, and the situation in the group.

At the press conference following the match between North Korea and Uzbekistan (0:1), head coach Srecko Katanec expressed his concerns to the AFC.

"If we talk about the game, we played well in the first half; we had opportunities, while the opponent had none. Unfortunately, we missed many chances. At the beginning of the second half, Bobur Abduholikov missed a good opportunity. If he had scored, the game could have turned out easier.

Of course, such situations occur when a team is defending. We were awarded a penalty 'out of nowhere' because the ball hit a hand. Fortunately, Utquir Yusupov was up to the task, and we achieved the desired result.

I don’t believe there are teams that play equally well for 90 minutes. We must also consider another factor: today we played under difficult conditions. Primarily, it was the high humidity and the time difference between Uzbekistan and Laos. Additionally, the goal at the very end of the match against Qatar could not help but affect the team's morale. Nevertheless, the guys pulled themselves together.

Let's not forget that we played without several key players. It’s important to acknowledge that the substitutes performed very well.

Taking this opportunity, I would like to address the AFC. First and foremost, player health should be a priority. Playing on such a pitch is very dangerous for their health, and our training ground was even worse. Therefore, I would ask you to consider the health of the footballers.

I am just doing my job, and I would also like to thank the guys for their support. I am not aware of the situation with previous coaching changes; that decision was made by the management. As for our current situation, it is quite good. We have earned 13 out of a possible 18 points. Six games have passed, we have four more to go, and we will try to collect 12 points from them. I tell the guys – the fight will continue until the end. We should not have any illusions that we have the ticket in our pocket. Of course, we would like to secure qualification earlier; that would be great. But we will fight until the end. It won’t be easy if the main team players cannot participate in matches," said Srecko Katanec after the game.