Ji Dong-won struck twice and Koo Ja-cheol also scored as Korea claimed third place and a ticket to the 2015 edition in Australia with a 3-2 victory over Uzbekistan in the third-place play-off at Al Sadd Stadium on Friday.

The encounter exemplified the current changing of the guard in the national team with the up-and-coming Koo netting his fifth goal to go top of the tournament's scoring charts, while long-serving stalwarts Park Ji-sung and Lee Young-pyo announced their retirements.

After going out in the semi-finals on penalties to Japan, Friday's triumph means Korea end their continental campaign undefeated and Cho is excited about a bright future featuring the likes of Koo, Ji and Lee Chung-yong.

“We haven't lost a game at the Asian Cup,” Cho stated.

“The penalty shootout defeat against Japan was my fault. I want to say thank you to all the players who sacrificed for the team, they never gave up with excellent fighting spirit.

“I believe that we could have won the tournament but when it comes to penalty shoot-outs, not many people can predict the result.

“This tournament gave us a lot of opportunity to show the world the new possibilities of Korean football.

“I believe we've changed the way we play.It's a much better way so I want to keep working on this progress to better Korean football.

“Throughout the Asian Cup, I found the players were able to pass the ball through midfield much quicker than before so that aspect I was quite satisfied about.

“I would like to improve on what we're doing, be faster in front of goal to make us much more effective and also strengthen the defensive organisation.

Cho will now turn his attention to Korea's 2014 World Cup qualifying campaign as they look to build on the progress made both in Doha and last year at the World Cup in South Africa.

“To finish this tournament in third place, I can never be satisfied about the final result but I appreciate the sacrifice of all the players, they never gave up even though they were very tired,” he added.

“I do believe that we can go to Brazil, this is our long-term target and we will play good games in the qualification round. We will try to keep this progress on the right track and to get better game by game.”