Guangzhou R&F striker Xiao levelled the scores in thr 67th minute after Supachai Chaided had given Thailand the lead just after the half hour mark and Gao Lin secured the win for China with a penalty 20 minutes from time.

Xiao’s goal – the 100th of the tournament so far – was key for a China side that dominated the second half but were unable to find a way past Siwarak Tedsungnoen in the Thai goal until the arrival of the veteran forward, who finally ended Thailand’s resistence.

In the end it was a deserved win for a Chinese side that welcomed back Wu Lei to the starting line-up after missing the 2-0 loss against Korea Republic with a shoulder injury while Thailand called up Supachai for the injured Adisak Kraisorn.

The Shanghai SIPG forward has been training separately from his teammates since sustaining the injury against Kyrgyz Republic on Matchday One but Lippi will pick the 27-year-old as the Chinese attempt to win a game in the knockout phase of the AFC Asian Cup for the first time since 2004.

Up next for Vietnam will be the winners of the Japan-Saudi Arabia last 16 tie, with the quarter-final to be also played at Al Maktoum Stadium.

Both teams started positively as they went in search of an early goal with the first shot on target for Jordan and it came in the 17th minute when Baha' Abdelrahman forced Vietnam goalkeeper Dang Van Lam into action.

Three minutes later, Jordan came close again when Mousa Mohammad Suleiman lured three defenders out of position before his back-heel pass found the unmarked Feras Zeyad Shilbaya, whose cross to Yaseen Mahmoud Bakheet saw his effort going wide.

The experienced 29-year-old suffered the initial damage during his country’s Matchday One defeat of the Philippines, a game which saw him taken off shortly before the hour mark.

Ki, who plays his club football in England with Newcastle United, then subsequently failed to feature for the Taeguk Warriors against both Kyrgyz Republic and China PR, although he had returned to full training as recently as Friday.

Korea Republic are set to play Bahrain in a Round of 16 encounter in Dubai on Tuesday.

Queiroz is highly impressed with Pim Verbeek's Oman and has warned his players to be on their toes against the Gulf Cup champions ahead of the last 16 tie at the Mohammed bin Zayed Stadium in Abu Dhabi on Sunday.

"The Oman team is a very good team. They have prepared well and have achieved fantastic results over the last year or so. They played 23, 24 matches and only lost two or three.

"They have a very good coach in Pim Verbeek and we must be careful against them," said Queiroz.

Jamal Rashed's last-gasp penalty kick against India gave Bahrain what proved to be a crucial three points, allowing Miroslav Soukup's side to salvage third place in Group A, and qualify for the knockout stage for the first time since reaching the last four in 2004.

While the West Asian side's subsequent campaigns have all ended in the group stage, a final tally of one win, and one win only, has become a constant in their trips to the Continental Finals.

UAE 2019 is the fifth edition of the competition in a row where Bahrain have claimed exactly one win, although their 2004 campaign did also include a penalty shootout success over Uzbekistan after a 2-2 draw in the last eight.

The two sides met twice in the UAE 2019 Qualifiers, with the matches ending 1-1 and 0-0, but that was before Borkelmans took over the reins from Jamal Ahmad Abu Abed.