"We can go there and win" - Uzbek coach

Goal.com October 9 Speaking after the 1-1 draw in Tashkent in the first leg of the Asian Zone play-off, the coach of Uzbekistan, Bobby Houghton was upbeat about his team's chances of triumphing in the second leg in the Bahraini capital of Manama on Wednesday evening. The ex-Malmo coach who took the Swedish side to the European Cup final in 1979 had more cause to be disappointed than his Bahraini counterpart after being held to a draw at home. The stalemate came five weeks after the Central Asians won the original game 1-0 on September 3, a result that was declared invalid by FIFA due to a serious technical error by the referee. I don't think we played as well as we could have in the first half," Football Asia.com reported the Englishman as saying. The first period saw the visitors, who like Uzbekistan are looking to appear in a first World Cup next year though CONCAFAF's fourth-placed team lies in wait for the winner of the continental play-off, take the lead in the 17th minute through Talal Yusuf. "We didn't play as well as we did during the first half in the previous game we played last month and while it is such a psychological blow to concede one goal at home, I was very happy that we managed to get a goal back very quickly. Uzbekistan levelled proceedings just two minutes later thanks to a powerful header from Asian Player of the Year nominee, Maksim Shatskikh. "But even after equalizing so quickly, we played for the rest of the game trying not to lose another goal, that was a double blow for us," lamented the former coach of China. The experienced and well-travelled coach is still optimistic about his team's chances. "There is still 90 minutes of football to play and believe me, we are still in with a good chance. Trust me it is very difficult for them to play for a 0-0 draw which would take them through. "Drawing 1-1 was not a good result for us, but still we have got a chance as but it is not over, far from it. It is not over if you don't win at home, that is all what I want to say." "I planned that we might be one goal up after 50 minutes and we can put Geynrikh on for the last thirty five, forty minutes and hopefully get another goal for us. But the first goal we conceded changed the whole scenario and the game", he concluded. "This 1-1 draw may seem like a bad result but. I am confident that they will play to win the next leg and will come forward, giving us more space to counter-attack. "We can go there and win 1-0, we can go there and draw 1-1, we can go there and draw 2-2 maybe, who knows."