J1 League pair Musashi Suzuki and Genta Miura found the back of the net for Hajime Moriyasu’s side, who became the only team to finish the tournament’s opening day with a perfect three points.

The East Asian regional competition, which features men’s and women’s championships played concurrently, will continue on a round-robin basis until next Wednesday.

Qualifying action for the two premier competitions will resume on March 26 as the players - depending on where they play their club football - either return to their teams or get some much needed break.

Join the-AFC.com as we take a look at five talking points at this stage of a thrilling Asian Qualifiers.

Facing the second-highest seed in the group against the backdrop of a chilly Bishkek evening, goals from Takumi Minamino and Genki Haraguchi either side of half-time helped the Samurai Blue seal what was ultimately a convincing win; their fourth in succession without conceding a goal in the Asian Qualifiers.

Speaking after the game, Moriyasu said he had been impressed by his side’s ability to achieve the result which took them a step closer to the next round of the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 and AFC Asian Cup China 2023 qualifying campaign.

It was the East Asians second draw, having been held 0-0 by DPR Korea in Pyongyang last month, but Son and Hwang admitted that the Taeguk Warriors should have taken full points against Lebanon.

Lippi announced his intention to stand down from the role during the post-match press conference after Zhang Linpeng’s 76th minute own goal handed Syria a fourth win in a row to leave China PR’s hopes of advancing to the next round in jeopardy.

The in-form striker made the pledge in the wake of her superb hat-trick against Melbourne Victory on Saturday, which helped Beleza to their inaugural AFC Women’s Club Championship title in Yongin.

Tanaka’s four goals in that tournament followed 20 in Japan’s Nadeshiko League, a competition where she was also voted Most Valuable Player, but the 25-year-old has recently been a conspicuous absentee at the international level.

Group A will have DPR Korea, hosts Korea Republic, Vietnam and Myanmar.

Group B pitted Australia, hosts China PR, Thailand and Chinese Taipei.