"We dominated the whole game, we controlled the ball,” said Khaydarov. “Of course, Sri Lanka defended well, but we managed to score four goals.

“The important thing is that this is our first win and the three points we have earned are very important for us."

"In general, we played well. We were active in attack, we created many chances. However, we could not convert all of them into goals. We also have to recognise the defence of the Sri Lankan team - they defended very well.”

Uzbekistan were forced to wait until the 38th minute before they found the breakthrough via Umarali Rakhmanoliev with the second goal coming two minutes later through Rustam Turdimurodov.

Turdimurodov got his second early in the second half with Sardobek Bakhmarov adding a fourth to make it a comfortable win at the end for Uzbekistan.

Khaydarov will now turn his attention towards the crucial tie against Kyrgyz Republic, who defeated Palestine 2-1 with the Central Asian derby on Saturday possibly having a huge significance on qualification.