It's been 26 long years since the Young Green Falcons were crowned Asian champions, with a 2-0 win against the Koreans in Dubai marking the last time the West Asian nation emerged victorious from the continental finals.

A consistent contributor to the Saudi campaign in Indonesia, Al Ghannam says the time has come for Saudi Arabia to claim their long-awaited third title.

The talented 19-year-old has been a star performer throughout his side’s latest continental campaign, not least in the semi-final win over Qatar when the Suwon Samsung Bluewings ace scored twice and produced a virtuoso display.

Despite his tender years, Jeon, who has made two substitute appearances for his club during this season’s AFC Champions League, is far from fazed by the prospect of Korea Republic’s title showdown with Saudi Arabia, insisting instead that he is more than ready for the task ahead.

A brace from Jeon Se-jin coupled with Um Won-Sang’s goal on the stroke of half-time proved the difference as a distinctly impressive Korea Republic went through to Sunday’s title showdown with Saudi Arabia.

After guaranteeing a spot at next year’s FIFA U-20 World Cup in Poland thanks to their win over Tajikistan in the last eight, Chung had demanded that his Korea Republic players adopt a more confident approach for the game against Qatar. Not surprisingly, he was delighted with what he saw.

Defending champions Japan had been in imperious form coming into the match, but the Young Green Falcons looked every bit the successor to their throne as they cruised to a consummate 2-0 win, setting up a mouth-watering decider against Korea Republic on Sunday.

But despite their impressive all around display, Atawi refuted any suggestion that Saudi Arabia are performing at the peak of their powers.

With midfielder Jeon Se-jin to the fore, three first-half goals saw the Koreans dominate proceedings early on, before Qatar recovered after the break to reduce the deficit through Lee Jae-ik’s own goal with over half an hour to play.

It proved to be a case of too little, too late for the West Asians though, with Pinheiro declaring that the result and the manner of the defeat would only serve to strengthen Qatar going forward – especially at next year’s FIFA U-20 World Cup in Poland.

Hopes of a second successive Japanese triumph were dashed as Turki Al Ammar and Khaled Al Ghannam's goals helped Saudi Arabia to a well deserved 2-0 victory at the Pakansari Stadium on Thursday, and Kageyama says his side must be better at the global Finals in May.

"We were supposed to be the Asian champions in this tournament, but our opponent Saudi Arabia had a big motivation," he said.