“A one game round is always difficult. As we expected, the opponents were very well prepared, only that they didn’t have the experience,” said Akhmedov.

“The credit goes to my players and the staff, this is a big accomplishment for all of Kyrgyz Republic that we are able to make it to the group stage.”

Atai Dzhumashev put the home side in front from 12 yards after 11 minutes but Abdysh-Ata had to wait until the 52nd minute to get their second through Kairat Zhyrgalbek Uluu to seal the win.

The visitors looked uncomfortable at the start of the match, needing to fend off Abdysh-Ata’s constant attacks but grew into the game albeit without causing too much trouble for Marsel Islamkulov in the home goal.

Attack head coach Ahmad Zia Azmi accepted it was a step too high for his fledgling team but vowed to continue their development for future challenges.

“It was our first experience playing in an Asian competition,” said Zia Azimi. “We tried our best but we lacked experience. We created some chances but didn’t make good use of them. 

“Overall, it was a good experience for us and we will try to be involved again next season with the learnings we took from here.”