Syria twice took the lead in regulation time but where twice pegged back with Igor Sergeev's 44th minute strike cancelling out Hamid Mido's 39th minute opener only for Syria to regain the advantage on the stroke of half-time through an Mahmoud Al Mawas penalty.

Syria held their 2-1 lead until the 76th minute when Ihtiyor Tashpulatov scored the goal that ultimately forced extra-time.

Neither side could add to the scoreline in the two periods of additional time forcing the penalty shootout, in whichVladimir Kozak, Sardor Sabirkhodjaev and Timur Khakimov were all on target for the Uzbeks while Ahmad Al Kaddour and Al Mawas were denied by keeper Asilbek Aminov and Khaled Al Mbayed struck the bar with his spot-kick.

"I thank all the players who did their best but this is football," Jouma said at the post-match press conference.

"Penalty shootouts depend on luck. We prepared for the possibility of penalties but today the luck was not on our side and I think that the players also were affected by the pressure of the situation.

"We played a strong match and we were the better side in all of the four periods but we committed two mistakes that gave Uzbekistan the chance to score.

"Uzbekistan's two goals came from set pieces and this shows that our team was better as we didn't give the Uzbeks the chance to break into our defence."

Victorious Akhmadjan Musaev was understandably delighted with the outcome of the quarter-final and praised Syria for their impressive showing in a match that characterised the overall rise in Asian football.

"I am very happy as we reached the semi-final and qualified for next year's World Cup," he said.

"As I said at the pre-match press conference, Syria is a very strong team and in today's game we saw some very good football from both sides. This proves that Asian football is developing and maybe shows that the continent deserves more places at the World Cup."