Four youngsters stepped up to showcase their musical ability on the beachside stage with the audience soaking up the chance to enjoy the magic of another culture against the backdrop of Asia’s biggest football tournament.

Sharing his insights, Dang Phuong Anh, one of the performing group’s members said: “I love playing music and doing it here in Abu Dhabi on the beach at this football fan zone is a great experience that me and my friends will never forget.”

Her music teacher Le Thanh Phuong added: “With football being played between 24 nations, we’re here to promote and teach people about Vietnamese culture. What better way to do that than through our music, which like football, is a great way to bring people together.”

With the opening phase of the competition now complete, the-AFC.com looks at some of the statistical leaders, and numerical highlights of the AFC Asian Cup's opening two weeks.

The 36 matches over the last 13 days saw their fair share of drama and upsets, producing a total of 96 goals - which is an average of 2.67 per match, surpassing the 2015 edition that saw an average of 2.54 goals over 24 matches in Australia.

One of the tournament’s biggest highlights has been its expanded format from 16 to 24 teams, which sees the introduction of the competition’s first-ever Round of 16 stage – a decision that has reaped its rewards – with the Continent’s emerging nations showing their ability to stand proud alongside the traditional powerhouses.

The AFC's team, known as Technical Study Group (TSG), are an experienced group of technical analysts who will analyse all 51 matches of the largest ever edition of the tournament.

The AFC Asian Cup Technical Report is produced by coaches for coaches, but it is also a publication which has traditionally been of interest to officials, media and fans.

Jemala Yagmurova, who lives in the UAE but is originally from Turkmenistan, recruited a fan club of over 100 people to support her nation, ensuring that there was plenty of noise and encouragement for her country emanating from the stands.

She is one of the six hundred strong community group, dubbed the ‘Playmakers’, which was formed to spread awareness and excitement of the tournament across the Emirates. For months now, Jemala and her fellow Playmakers have attended events, functions, mobile roadshows, schools outreach programmes and more, in a wide scale effort to drum up support for their own countries.

With the captivating action on the pitch, universities in the UAE have committed to the Continental showpiece by bringing diverse groups of students together, using the power of football to unite and engage, giving students an opportunity to attend matches.

Four dedicated University Days will be taking place across each host city, with hundreds of students kicking-off the programme in Abu Dhabi when they attended Thursday’s epic contest between Korea Republic and China PR, which saw the Taeguk Warriors seal a 2-0 victory at the Al Nahyan Stadium.

In the spotlight Wednesday were a group of traditional Lebanese Dabke dancers “Al Asail”, who performed on stage in traditional outfits, thrilling fans and curious observers with a highly energetic and flamboyant routine.

Explaining the history and background of the dance, Hosain Algengy said: “Dabke is the traditional Arab folk dance of Lebanon, Syria, Jordan and Palestine that is usually performed at happy moments and joyous occasions in life so it’s great to be at the heart of the AFC Asian Cup fan zone, to showcase it.