The UAE Under-23s must show all their “enthusiasm, seriousness and desire” to get the big win against minnows Timor-Leste that will ignite hopes of advancement at the 2018 Asian Games.

Maciej Skorza’s men opened up on Tuesday in Group C with a disheartening 1-0 loss to Syria. They created few chances at Indonesia’s empty Jalak Harupat Stadium and were deservedly punished by striker Abd Al Rahman Barakat’s second-half header, via goalkeeper Mohamed Al Shamsi’s flimsy attempt at a save.

China smashed Timor 6-0 and a second-successive heavy defeat must be inflicted on the tiny Southeast Asian island nation to boost odds of progression from Sunday’s decider.

“This match is very important for the UAE, where we must win to compete for one of the qualifying cards to the second round,” said Poland’s Skorza. “My confidence is high that the players will play better than the last game and achieve a positive result.

“Each match has different circumstances. Just because Timor-Leste suffered a big defeat in the previous game, it does not mean it will be easy against them.

“We must deal with this game with all our enthusiasm, seriousness and desire to get the three points. This will maintain our fortunes ahead of the final game against China on Sunday.”

This age group has shown worrying degradation in recent years. Skorza’s predecessors failed to qualify for the Rio 2016 Olympics and 2018 AFC U-23 Championship.

Dinamo Zagreb loanee Ali Eid revealed the pressure of a winless, three-match run – the last two warm-ups featured a bad-tempered 2-0 defeat to Malaysia and 1-0 reversal to Saudi Arabia – was being felt by the squad.

He said: “The confrontation with Timor-Leste is an opportunity to restore confidence for ourselves, especially since we did not win in the last three confrontations – whether friendly or official matches.”

The UAE won silver in the 2010 edition and were knocked out in the quarter-finals four years ago. In 2002 and 2006, they were eliminated in the groups.