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."

Saudi Arabia suffered a 5-0 defeat to hosts Russia in their FIFA World Cup opener but showed quality in their next two matches, a 1-0 loss to Uruguay and a 2-1 win over Egypt to end their campaign on a high.

Pizzi admitted the defeat to Russia had been a morale-shattering experience for the Green Falcons.

Lee Jae-sung and Nam Tae-hee scored a goal apiece to get Bento off to a winning start with his new team at the Goyang Stadium in Goyang, north of Seoul ahead of the AFC Asian Cup UAE 2019.

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.

It's no overstatement to stay that one of the standout games of the 2015 AFC Asian Cup was not the final, nor semi-final, but an action-packed quarter-final away from the big city lights of Sydney and Melbourne, but in the country's eighth largest city, the capital Canberra.

Never considered a football-hotbed - Canberra even now still lacks an A-League side - the Australian seat of government, for one night in January 2015, was turned into the centre of Asian football as Islamic Republic of Iran and Iraq played out an instant classic in the tournament's last eight.

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.

The 55-year-old former Slovenia and Yugoslavia international, who had also previously managed Macedonia, United Arab Emirates and Slovenia, said there would be a transitioning period but he is committed in ensuring Iraq achieve success.

“I am happy and proud to be the new coach of Iraq but there is not going to be a quick solution,” said Katanec, who has replaced Basim Qasim.

“This is going to be a long process and it is going to take time to build the team at all levels. It is an exciting challenge, however, as there is a lot of talent in Iraq and if we can start moving in the right direction, then I am confident that we can have success.”