China PR followed up last Friday's 1-0 defeat to Qatar in Doha with a 0-0 result against Bahrain in Riffa on Monday but Lippi wasn't overly concerned that the tour ended without a win for his team.

"We have to learn from the experience and shortcomings from this trip to West Asia. What is important is that we put these lessons to good use," said Lippi after the match against Bahrain.

Goals to Kairat Zhyrgalbek uluu and Bekzhan Sagynbaev helped the Central Asians to a memorable win, and one which bodes well for upcoming meetings with Korea Republic, China PR and Philippines in the UAE.

Krestinin, who has overseen the side's successful qualification campaign and a record rise in the FIFA Rankings, says his players are growing in belief.

Bekzhan Sagynbaev's 85th minute goal sealed the win, cancelling out an Omar Al-Somah penalty after man of the match Kairat Zhyrgalbek had given the hosts a 75th minute lead.

Prolific striker Al-Somah was the closest to breaking the deadlock for Syria, narrowly firing over the crossbar from 20 yards late in the first period, but neither side was able to truly put their stamp on a somewhat cagey first 45 minutes.

Football fans are invited to get involved, ahead of the largest sporting event ever hosted in the Middle East, by signing up for the fun-filled seven-a-side tournament which offers players the added prestige of representing one of the 24 competing Asian nations. 

With the tournament mirroring the group stage and knockout format of the AFC Asian Cup UAE 2019, football fans will come together throughout the country, as they battle to be crowned champions of the Asian Community Cup. Registration is now open to everybody aged 18 and older.

Borkelmans, who was a steely defender in his playing days, replaces Lamal Abu Abed and is tasked with preparing Jordan for the AFC Asian Cup UAE 2019 on January 1-February 5.

The JFA said in a statement: "We thank Lamal Abu Abed for his efforts in the previous months, but we the FA made this decision for the interest of the national team at this period of preparations for Asian Cup 2019 in UAE."

From now until September 30th, 2018, football fans can submit their slogan proposals for their favourite teams via the AFC’s social media platforms – Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, in the first phase of the contest, with the ultimate winners receiving an autographed national team jersey.

And the ultimate accolade will see the 24 winners have their slogans painted on the official team buses, which will be broadcast across the world and will ferry some of Asian football’s biggest names between the eight stadiums across the four cities, from January 5 to February 1, 2019.

While Korea Republic's Lee Seung-woo and Australia's Daniel Arzani are among the young Asian stars to make headlines in 2018, Palestine look to have unearthed a gem of their own in 19-year-old Oday Dabbagh.

The youngster, who plays club football for West Bank Premier League champions Hilal Al-Quds, rounded out an impressive overall performance with his first senior international goal in Thursday's 1-1 friendly draw with Kyrgyz Republic, putting his name firmly in the selection frame for January's Finals.