“The team's effort was amazing. I'm happy I could contribute to this victory. I hope we can score more goals in the next game and advance to the next stage with a strong goal difference,” said Zamani.

“Our main focus is to maintain a solid defence, avoid conceding goals, and defeat our opponents with as many goals as possible. Yemen are a good team, but we performed better. Hopefully, with the team’s continued effort, we can advance as group winners with nine points.

“Our goal is to qualify for the FIFA U20 World Cup and become Asian champions once again.”

Head coach Hossein Abdi was pleased with the defensive solidity against Yemen.

“We were prepared for a tough match, as we knew Yemen would put up a strong resistance. But after they were reduced to 10 men, it became easier for us to secure the three points,” said Abdi. “It would have been a good contest to face a full-strength Yemen team, as they were very confident.

“We scored some good goals, but football at this stage is also about development, and we would have preferred to face Yemen with all their players.”

Yemen head coach Mohammed Hasan Ali cut a despondent figure after seeing his side eliminated from the tournament.

“I’m proud of my players even though we lost today,” said Ali. “We played really well and controlled the game at the start, but after the red card, my players found it tough to cope.

“After trailing by five goals, the players were really demotivated, and it was hard for them to stay focused in the second half.”