Speaking before flying to Amman for Tuesday’s first leg, Marmar said that there was little to choose between the two teams who had both impressed en route to the Zonal Final.

The double-tie in Amman and Beirut marks the third edition of the West Zonal Final which was introduced in 2017 as part of the regional formatting of the AFC Cup. Both previous editions saw Iraq’s Air Force Club emerge winners and go on to win the title.

There will be no repeat of history this time, with Air Force Club competing in the AFC Champions League play-offs instead this year, and the-AFC.com revisits the past two closely-contested West Asia Zonal finals.

After seven months of action, the 2019 AFC Cup has come down to the penultimate hurdle for the teams from the Central, South, ASEAN and East Asia regions: the Inter-Zone Final.

Hanoi FC, the ASEAN Zonal champions, will face off against East Zonal winners 4.25 SC to decide who will go on to face the West Zonal winners at the 2019 AFC Cup Final on November 2.

We take a look back at how they made it this far.

The two-legged match-up will be the third Inter-Zone Final since the competition changed to its regional format at the beginning of 2017, with the Central Asian champions coming out on top in each of the last two years. 

As the champions of the East Asia and ASEAN Zones get set to face off for a place in the final, the-AFC.com looks back at the past two editions, where hard-fought contests have seen plenty of drama.

The Lebanese side held on to secure a goalless draw at home on Monday and book a place in the West Zonal Final off the back of a 1-0 away victory over Al Wehdat in the first leg a week earlier.

“I would like to apologise to the fans,” said Marmar. “We have not played to the level they have come to expect from us. We achieved the most important thing which is reaching the [Zonal] final, but we could and should have played better.”

The Lebanese champions had earned a hard-fought victory in Amman a week earlier thanks to Mohammad Kdouh’s strike, and a draw was all they needed on Monday to reach the Zonal Final for the first time in their history.

After a cagey start, Ahmad Zreik thought he had opened the scoring for the hosts halfway through the opening 45 minutes when he cut inside on his left foot and unleashed a powerful drive from 30 yards out that beat goalkeeper Abdallah Al Fakhouri. Luck was on the side of Al Wehdat goalkeeper as the ball bounced off the post and into his arms.

Coming into the home second leg with a three-goal disadvantage, Al Jazeera were determined to show their fighting spirit from the get-go. And indeed, they started with a bang.

Within five minutes of the start, the Jordanians’ attacking intent was rewarded by an early goal. Feras Shelbaieh got on the end of a cross and sent it back across the mouth of goal first-time for Abdullah Al Attar who controlled, shielded the ball and fired into the roof of the net to put Al Jazeera in front.

Facing persistent attacks from the home side, Al Jaish slowly regrouped and tried to hit on the counter. Ahmad Ashkar led a swift attacking move, advancing into Al Jazeera’s box and firing from an angle, but goalkeeper Ahmad Abdelsattar made the save.