A perfect five wins from five games has marked Syria out not only as the leaders of Group A ahead of China PR but sees the West Asian nation stand tallest across the entirety of the qualifying phase with the best return to date.

To select the candidates for each position, we have reflected on match data from the tournament to draw up a statistics-based approach to present the outstanding performers.

We begin with five candidates for the all-important number one shirt. Review the nominees and then choose your favourite goalkeeper to helm the rearguard for this all-star XI in the poll below.

Joining us to examine the nine-man shortlist announced on Friday is Jeroen Kapteijns, a seasoned football journalist for De Telegraaf, the country’s largest daily newspaper.

There is much to discuss, but when it comes to the core question of which nominee should be considered the continent’s most impactful player in Dutch football, Kapteijns found himself unable to separate two East Asian stars.

But while a long list of Dutch stars have become household names, the country also has a history of welcoming some of Asia’s outstanding players.

From 1980s pioneers like Huh Jung-moo and Fandi Ahmad to the stars of the modern game, the Eredivisie has played host to some of the continent’s best and brightest, making it a league of interest for generations of Asian fans.

Our list features several title winners and a league top goal scorer, but which of these icons deserves the title of Asia’s best?

Here are our nominees:

Matchdays 7 and 8 are now scheduled to take place on October 8 and 13, 2020 respectively while Matchdays 9 and 10 are due to kick off on November 12 and 17, 2020.

The latest decision has been taken with a view to completing the Preliminary Joint Qualification Round 2 by November 2020 and to commence the subsequent FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 Asian Qualifiers Final Round as well as the play-off matches for the AFC Asian Cup China 2023 Round 3 Qualifiers by the March 2021 match dates in the FIFA International Calendar.

The AFC will continue to monitor the situation closely to ensure the safety and wellbeing of all teams, officials, fans and stakeholders as well as Government travel and medical restrictions and will notify all parties should there be a need to reassess the match schedules due to the ever-evolving impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.

These permanent fixtures in a fan’s memory bank can be lodged there thanks to a glorious last-minute winner, a sterling come-from-behind victory or – in the case of Islamic Republic of Iran icon Ali Daei – a superb virtuoso display.

Midway through 1996 Daei, then aged 27, had only scored seven of his eventual 109 goals for his country, but the next six months would produce 22 international goals, including one of the greatest individual performances in the history of Asian football.

We kicked off last week's showcase with five fantastic free-kicks, and now we turn to some stunning strikes from distance that span the Continent from Kyrgz Republic to Vietnam.