“We did not deserve to win today because the performance was weak and we did not implement the strategy we trained on. We were not better than the opposing team,” said Bento. “When you win, everything is good and when you do not everything looks bad.

“We are in a race in which three rounds have ended and we have four points, so we must continue fighting to win every upcoming match despite our awareness of the difficulty of some opponents.

“I am not happy with the result and what happened in the match and I hope to change things in the next stage, especially since we have a difficult away game against Uzbekistan on Tuesday.”

Similarly, Sin lamented his side’s missed opportunities, stressing that his team have to improve after collecting just two points from three matches.

“I am not happy with the performance and the result, because we missed a large number of opportunities,” said Sin. “We have gained two points from two matches and we have to learn from the mistakes ahead of the upcoming matches, so that we can win and get more points."

“UAE had several chances but we defended well and got a draw. We will try as much as possible to do our best in the next match with the aim of reaching the World Cup.”

The East Asian side play Kyrgyz Republic in Bishkek on Tuesday.