Uzbekistan coach Rauf Inileyev was left to bemoan his team’s bad luck after a 2-1 quarter-final defeat at the hands of Saudi Arabia.

A disallowed goal came to the Saudis rescue as did the woodwork four times as the Central Asians searched for an equalizer but it wasn’t to be in an entertaining game in the Indonesian capital.

"Today the god of football was not with us," he said. "After the game I never blame referees who make mistakes and today we were simply not lucky."

"We played nice football and I enjoyed the game but I’m not satisfied with the result. Both teams played well but we weren’t lucky."

The Saudis go on to the semi-finals and a date with defending champions Japan in Hanoi on Wednesday.

"Of course, the four teams at this stage are good enough to win the title and they are capable of winning the title, but I don’t bet in these tournaments who will be the champions because it’s very hard to determine," he said.

"There are no favourites in these tournaments. Many experts said Iran would be among the top four teams but they were knocked out today. I would say Saudi had a good chance to be the champions."