North Korea coach Jo Tong-Sop was defiant after their 1-0 defeat to Uzbekistan in their Asian Cup opener.

The only goal of the game came just after the hour mark when Igor Sergeev headed in a cross from his captain Server Djeparov.

Twice Asian player of the year Djeparov shone on the day in Sydney.

Meanwhile, North Korea coach Jo said afterwards: "We have two more matches in the group stage. We still have a chance and we don't want to lose it.

"The rain did disturb our play. We couldn't play so well because of the rain. The rain did give some trouble to our team's perfect play."