Al Jazeera had several chances to put the tie to bed at the Amman International Stadium but allowed Al Ahed to walk away with a goalless draw, leaving next week's return leg enticingly poised.

Al Jazeera had a slight edge over the 90 minutes but another resolute defensive performance from Al Ahed meant the teams couldn't be separated, leaving next week's return leg enticingly poised.

Both sides came into the game with a solid defensive record behind them.

Al Jazeera had not conceded a single goal in their past four home matches, while Al Ahed kept six clean sheets in the 2019 AFC Cup; more than any other team in the competition.

The Pyongyang club are taking part in the tournament for the third successive year, having reached the Inter-Zone semi-finals in 2017 and the Inter-Zone Final last year, when they were eliminated on away goals by Turkmenistan’s Altyn Asyr.

But 4.25 returned to once again advance to the knockout rounds and then defeated Bangladesh’s Abahani Limited Dhaka in the previous stage to line up a clash with ASEAN Zonal champions Hanoi.

The ASEAN Zonal champions edged past Turkmenistan’s Altyn Asyr in the previous round, while their East Asia Zonal counterparts overcame Bangladesh’s Abahani Limited Dhaka to set up a mouthwatering encounter as they chase a place in the final on November 2.

The Vietnamese side were crowned V.League champions for the second successive year last Thursday, but celebrations have been cut short with the Continental competition clash coming just days later in a campaign that could yet yield further silverware.

Hanoi have played more games than any other side to reach this stage of the tournament, while the ASEAN Zonal champions are also into the semi-finals of the Vietnamese Cup as they seek an unprecedented treble for a V.League club

In what will be the first-ever meeting between the pair, there is set to be plenty of attacking talent on display and the-AFC.com has selected four players who could inspire their team to the final.