Nicholas D’Agostino’s solo effort two minutes into the second half sent Australia on their way to the Tokyo Olympic Games on Saturday as Graham Arnold’s side earned a 1-0 win over 10-man Uzbekistan in the third place play-off at the AFC U23 Championship Thailand 2020.

Uzbekistan head coach Ljubinko Drulovic has declared that he is proud of his players despite seeing the Central Asians lose 1-0 to Australia on Saturday to finish fourth at the AFC U23 Championship Thailand 2020 and have their hopes of qualifying for this year’s Olympic Games dashed.

Nicholas D’Agostino’s superb 47th minute strike proved the difference on a night when Uzbekistan missed several opportunities to seal the win and their cause was hindered severely by the second-half dismissal of substitute Oybek Bozorov.

The result brought Uzbekistan’s once promising campaign to a disappointing end.