Hashioka’s brace came in the final 15 minutes of a tight game in which the Thai champions pushed the 2017 title winners for much of the match before the 19-year-old wing-back’s intervention swung the tie in Urawa’s favour.

The youngster’s match-winning performance in the Group G clash was the highlight for an Urawa side returning to the AFC Champions League for the first time since winning the title in 2017 and the veteran Brazilian plans to continue to give youth a chance.

The hosts struggled to break down a stubborn Buriram backline in the first half, before Makino opened the scoring five minutes after the interval and Hashioka – making his first ever appearance in the competition – added two late goals to finally see off the Buriram challenge.

The result marked a winning return to the AFC Champions League for Oswaldo de Oliveira’s side, whose last appearance was the second leg of the 2017 final when they defeated Saudi Arabia’s Al Hilal 2-1 on aggregate to become two-time winners.

In their first appearance in the Continental showpiece since they lifted the title in 2017, the home side started brightly and had a golden chance to open the scoring after just 10 minutes when Yosuke Kashiwagi’s cross found Andrew Nabbout unmarked in the box, but the Australian attacker couldn’t keep his effort down.

Injures to a number of key players – including Yuma Suzuki and Leo Silva - forced Oiwa to field a number of young players for his side’s first game in the group phase of the 2019 campaign, but the eight-time J.League champions still picked up all three points in the Group E clash with a 2-1 win.

“This is the first match of the AFC Champions League and we won the three points, that’s all we can take from this game,” said Oiwa. “You never know what’s going to happen in any game in this tournament and that’s something I told our players."

But the Japanese side were given a stern test by the Malaysian champions, who were making their debut in the group stage of the tournament.

The home side had 17 shots to Ulsan’s 11 and controlled 56 percent of the possession, but in blustery conditions at Jubilee Stadium in Sydney’s south, the Sky Blues failed to convert any of their chances and extended their goalless run at home in the competition to four matches.