Japan head coach Yoshiro Moriyama made seven changes to his starting lineup but kept Riku Handa, Kondo Kuraba and Araki Ryotaro - three of the four goalscorers in their 5-2 win over Thailand.

The East Asians, however, failed to find an opening in the final third against a Tajikistan side who showed excellent discipline in defence.

Malaysia, who were playing without first choice goalkeeper Sikh Izhan Nazrel who had been red carded in their match against Tajikistan on Thursday, suffered an early blow when Harith Haiqal Adam’s poor back pass allowed Thailand’s Suphanat Mueanta to latch on to the loose ball before beating Abdul Alim Al Amri to take a third minute lead.

Thailand’s lead, however, lasted less than 10 minutes when Muhamad Alif Bin Mutalib launched a long-range pass from near the half-line mark that found Luqman Hakim Shamsudin in the box and the livewire - who scored four in the tie against Tajikistan - headed the ball over custodian Anuchid Taweesri in the 12th minute.

Having left it late against Vietnam after numerous chances were wasted, Partap wants a sharper India against IR Iran, who need to win after losing 2-0 to Indonesia in their opening match on Friday.

“We created a lot of chances (against Vietnam) and it would have been nice to win by a fancy scoreline.

“We could have won 4-0 or 5-0 if we had been clinical in front of the goal. We are, however, happy with the three points,” said Partap.

Against IR Iran, goals from twins Amiruddin Bagus Alfikri (fourth minute) and Amiruddin Bagas Arrizqi (90th) secured the three points and having beaten one of the Continent’s biggest teams, Indonesia believe they can enjoy a successful tournament.

Bagus Alfikri admitted that the Central Asians were formidable foes.

Choi opened the scoring in the 43rd minute to give Korea Republic the lead going into the break, while Hong Yun-sang doubled their advantage in the 52nd minute before Choi scored his second goal of the night in the 68th to seal the win.

“It’s great to win three points, I’m happy for myself and the team as well,” the 16-year-old midfielder told the-AFC.com. “In general, we are happy with the win and the performance.

“In terms of improvement, we should have more concentration in defence, as I think there were times where we made some simple mistakes. So if we improve on that, it would be okay. We just need to recover well and prepare for the next game.”

Iraq took a fourth minute lead through Hussein Sadeq’s strike, but tournament debutants Afghanistan recovered almost immediately to score the equaliser a minute later with Ali Zahidi finding the back of the net.

In the 14th minute, Iraq were awarded a penalty when Al Jasim Elaibi was brought down in the box, and Qasim stepped up to convert the spot-kick which was eventually the winning goal, sending their travelling fans into a frenzy.

“I always wish to score goals and I have thought about the way I would do my celebration, but the goal I scored from the penalty spot helped my team to win and harvest the three points, and that’s the important factor,” said Qasim. “It isn’t what I gave to myself but what I gave to my team.”

DPR Korea took the lead through Kim Kang-song’s 20th minute strike, before Ahmad Semreen leveled the scores 11 minutes later but Jordan trailed again going into the break with Kang-song’s 45th minute goal.

Jordan eventually equalised in the second half with Amer Rasem Adel Jamous finding the back of the net in the 75th minute.