The Pakhtakor defender has played every minute of Uzbekistan’s campaign so far as part of a miserly defence that has allowed only one goal in five games.

"We are very happy to have qualified for the final of the competition," said the 17-year-old.

"I hope that we will win the title and have a good finish to what has been a great experience for us.

"Playing in the final is like a real dream as not every player can win this tournament," he added. "It is like a fairy tale and if we win the title we will be big heroes back in our country.

"The final will not be easy as we are going to play against UAE and they have shown that they are a strong team. We met them in a friendly before the tournament and we defeated them 2-1 but it will be totally different on Friday.”

The Uzbeks secured their spot in the final with a 1-0 victory over Korea Republic in the semi-finals on Tuesday.

"We qualified for the final after playing a big game against Korea Republic,” Khalmuhamedov said.

"We knew that Korea are strong and we played a defensive game against them and we were really good."

But the full-back’s most memorable moment came in the quarter-finals against China when he took over the goalkeeper’s gloves after first-choice Doniyorjon Usmonov was sent off in the last minute of extra-time.

Khalmuhamedov remained between the posts for the penalty shoot-out and made a sensational save to deny Li Zhichao and send Uzbekistan through to the last four.

"I’m really happy that I could help the team to qualify for the semi-finals and give them a place in the U-20 World Cup," he said.

"It was my idea to be the goalkeeper in the penalty shootouts as I was confident that I could make at least one save.

"To be honest, I was confident that we could beat China in the quarter-finals and I was hoping we could beat them by penalties. However, when Doniyorjon was sent off I was worried that this dream will not continue.

"But I had good belief that I could help the team and my team-mates supported me greatly when I wore the goalkeeper jersey," he added.

"At that time I was determined to help the team and not let them down.

"I received a lot of praise after what I did against China. I think that what I did will help me in my personal life and it will open many doors for me in Uzbekistan and I’ll have a lot of opportunities."