“I'm very happy with our game,” said Sarriugarte. “We did well, started strongly and played offensively.

“The first goal was really important for our game. We had a lot of chances on our counterattacks and our strategy to use wingers on the wide areas worked out well.”

Sarriugarte had kind words for Kyrgyz Republic, who had captain Atai Eshenkulov sent off before the break for a challenge on Mohamed Hani Faragalla.

“They are a very difficult team to play because they are really strong fighters,” he said. “I have great respect for them because it must have been difficult when they were down to 10 men, but they never gave up.”