“We knew that it would be a tough game,” said Mota. “Nasaf are a very good team, this team doesn't lose a lot. This team has very good quality.

“But I told my players that football is more than just talent and quality, but also the effort and sacrifice. We were playing at home so it doesn't matter who the opponents are, we need to show that we can play good football."

“In the second half after 60 minutes, I took out (Ehsan) Haddad and (Abdullah) Alattar because we wanted to win the game. The draw, for me, wasn't good enough. I knew that with these substitutions, the stalemate could be broken. We made good counter attacks and got the result.”

Haitam broke the deadlock in the 87th minute, then scored again in the first minute of added time, drilling low shots into the bottom corner past the otherwise excellent Abduvakhid Nematov who had been a big stumbling block for Al Hussein up to that point.

Al Hussein face Nasaf again in two weeks and a second win will see them opening a five-point gap on the Uzbekistan side.