The striker, alongside Muhammad Najmuddin Akmal, was the catalyst in the Malaysian attack and his sharpness in front of goal made all the difference for the hosts as the Southeast Asians swept past their opponents to lead 3-0 at halftime.

"I'm glad I scored today. It was not easy playing against Tajikistan and we fought hard as they played well,” said Luqman.

Malaysia, who are out to shine on home soil, wasted no time in piling on the pressure and came close to opening the scoring as early as the third minute when Muhammad Firdaus Ramli’s cross found Luqman Hakim Shamsudin up front but his shot flew over the crossbar.

Seven minutes later, Muhammad Najmudin Akmal headed the ball in from a corner but to Tajikistan’s relief, he was ruled offside.

Najmudin and Luqman were Malaysia’s dynamic duo and at the half-hour mark, an exchange of passes between the two led to Luqman sweeping the ball home from close range past Tajikistan goalkeeper Mukhriddin Khasanov.

Two minutes later, Luqman broke through the Central Asians’ defence with his sight on goal but was brought down in the box by Khasanov. Najmuddin converted from the spot.

A boosted Malaysia continued to dominate and in the 42nd minute, Muhamad Umar Hakeem Suhar sent a brilliant through pass that found Luqman and the No.10 forward unleashed a right-footed strike to make it 3-0 going into the break.

Thailand, aware of their opponents’ capabilities, pushed hard from the first blow of the referee’s whistle and took the lead just 45 seconds into the match through Waragon Thongbai, who finished a brilliant pass from skipper Thanarin Thumsen.

Japan, however, were unfazed and found the equaliser five minutes later when the Thai backline failed to clear Yamauchi Kakeru’s effort from outside the box, and Araki Ryotaro latched onto the loose ball and hit it home.

Ryotaro turned provider two minutes later when he easily beat the offside trap thanks to Kakeru’s through pass, setting up a one-on-one with Thai ‘keeper Anuchid Taweesri but instead of making an attempt, he relayed the ball to the surging Kondo Kuraba to slide the ball into an unguarded goalmouth for the lead.

The South Asians arrived in Malaysia two weeks ahead of the Finals to grind in some solid preparation, playing friendlies and training.

“Malaysia has been nice, we arrived early because we want to qualify for the World Cup,” Kumar told the-AFC.com. “We have acclimated well to the weather and we’re ready for the matches ahead.”

There is pressure on India, having hosted both Championship two years ago and the 2017 FIFA U-17 World Cup.

The 18th edition of the AFC U-16 Championship has four spots to the 2019 FIFA U-17 World Cup in Peru, and for Kumar, that has been a major role in his motivation.