The Southeast Asians produced a magnificent display in their campaign opener before losing narrowly to a highly regarded Korea Republic outfit.

However, Younghusband feels the game had a negative impact on Sven-Göran Eriksson’s charges against table-topping China who opened the scoring in the first half through Wu Lei before securing all three points after the break.

Swept aside by the holders at Rashid Stadium, the Palestinians dropped to the bottom of Group B and now must look towards Tuesday's clash against already-qualified Jordan in the knowledge that only a win will suffice.

But despite the enormity of the task before them, Albadawi declared his side's campaign well and truly alive.

The 25-year-old came into the crucial tie under pressure following Australia's 1-0 defeat to Jordan and a series of quiet displays for the national team, but he silenced his critics with a superb 18th-minute header which was followed by further goals to Awer Mabil and Apostolos Giannou in their AFC Asian Cup UAE 2019 Group B tie.

Maclaren told the-AFC.com the early goal made for a vastly different experience than the one endured against the Jordanians.

Early goals from Jamie Maclaren and Awer Mabil got the ball rolling for the defending champions, before Apostolos Giannou came off the bench to add a layer of gloss to the scoreline in the final moments.

Australia's showing was a vast improvement from their 1-0 Matchday One defeat to Jordan, with the the inclusion of Chris Ikonomidis and Jackson Irvine paying instant dividends for Arnold's men.

Speaking after the match, Arnold paid tribute to his side, but warned that he expects their performances to become even stronger as the tournament goes on.

Kim Min-jae scored the only goal of a game Bento’s team dominated to ensure the Koreans join China in advancing to the Round of 16 from Group C. The two nations face off on Wednesday with top spot in the group on the line.

“We didn’t make a very good performance but I think that we won the game fairly,” said the Portuguese coach, who has now won five and drawn three of his first eight games in charge of the Taeguk Warriors.

“Even though we didn’t have a good performance we created a lot of opportunities to score and I think that we could have finished the game earlier. But with 1-0 the opponents have the hope to score and until the end we suffered a little bit because we didn’t score the second goal.”

China edged towards the Round of 16 with Friday’s 3-0 win over the Philippines, progress which was subsequently assured when Korea Republic beat Kyrgyz Republic 1-0 in Group C’s later game.

The victory was China’s second of the campaign following their Matchday One defeat of Kyrgyz Republic, a run of form that Lippi feels will only serve to inspire the 1984 and 2004 AFC Asian Cup runners-up.

Two goals from the ever-impressive Wu Lei and a late strike from Yu Dabao saw the East Asians maintain their position at the top of Group C, as the result - coupled with Korea Republic's subsequent defeat of Kyrgyz Republic - ensured that Marcello Lippi’s charges cannot finish any lower than second.

While China sealed their progress, the Philippines, following their second successive group stage defeat, now need a win in their final match against Kyrgyz Republic to remain in contention for a place in the Round of 16 as one of the best third-placed finishers.