Maksim Shatskikh put the Uzbeks ahead against the run of play in the 27th minute at Saitama Stadium 2002 and although Keiji Tamada levelled in the 40th minute, the Uzbeks held on for their first point in Group One following losses to Qatar and Australia last month.

"It was an interesting and tough game," said Kasimov after his first competitive match in charge. "Following our first two defeats in the qualifiers, we really wanted to earn three points by any means today.

"We knew we would have to defend hard against Japan and that required great patience but we did that and got this result."

Kasimov got a helping hand in his preparations from Zico, who is now in charge of Kuruvchi having led leading Japan to the 2006 World Cup finals.

"I’ve studied hard on Japan although I only had a short time," said Kasimov.

"Our players did well to follow the game plan and every bit of advice I got from Zico really helped us a lot.

"But [Shunsuke] Nakamura did what I expected, creating chances with his wonderful passes on the left side and we gave up the goal due to his wonderful pass combined with our mistake."

Although Uzbekistan remain bottom of Group One, Kasimov felt that the draw in Japan could give his side the boost that they require to get their qualification campaign back on track.

"I knew our players are capable. The fact that we’ve got the point will boost our team. We’d like to work hard for the World Cup," he said.

The result was a disappointment for Japan coach Takeshi Okada as his side failed to register their second win in the group despite dominating for long periods.

"It is a great shame to get this result as we were looking for three points at home. We created good chances in the second half but couldn’t score on them," he said.

"I don’t think the concept of our game is incorrect: We should just carry on with that.

"But what I regret is that that our players looked a little afraid when they were under pressure in the first half. If they had played a little more aggressively then, we would have had more chances from the first half.

"We still have a few games to play in the World Cup qualifying. There’s nothing to be pessimistic about.

"It would have been better to have six points after two games but this is football. You cannot get it just because you want it.

"We’ll go for three points in our next away game in Qatar," Okada concluded.