“To be honest the goals don't matter as much as winning the game,” said Rashid. “I think the goal just helped us score another two goals, so I guess it was just a breakthrough. I feel very happy to help the team and that's it, that's what matters the most.

“It was very humid and very hard but we still worked together as a team to be able to win the game, and this is the most important thing,

“Big goal, big goal. We believe in the score, we believe in the group, we believe in the team. After that, I think tactically we were very good also.

“Because we had to keep the order, keep the organisation and choose the moment, choose the moment and wait for the moment to score goals.”

The victory ensured that East Bengal wiped away the disappointment of defeat at the same stage two seasons ago where they lost 3-2 to Turkmenistan side, Altyn Asyr FC.

Rashid and company can now look forward to seeing which group they will be in when the draw takes place in Kuala Lumpur on Tuesday.