The Koreans had seemingly been cruising towards three points in the Group C clash, but Najjarine's late heroics denied them an opening win after the impressive Jeon Se-jin had given them a 52nd minute lead.

The result keeps both sides' hopes of reaching the AFC U-19 Championship quarter-finals well and truly alive, with crucial fixtures to follow on Monday.

A superb header from Vietnam's Nham Manh Dung had given his side an early lead, but Jordan quickly replied through Mohammed Atieh and spurned a series of chances before Al Zubi popped up to secure a deserved win in the 89th minute.

Vietnam started strongly and, with winger Le Xuan Tu prominently involved in the build-up, Dung ensured they were rewarded when he rose high above the Jordanian defence to steer a precise header in at the far post and give the Southeast Asians a 21st minute lead.

Brought on in the second half, Suphanat struck in the 94th minute to earn his side a point from a game they had come desperately close to losing at the Pakansari Stadium.

On an afternoon of high drama, it was Thailand who were the first to threaten through Sittichok Paso’s 13th minute strike from distance but it was expertly gathered by goalkeeper Haval Bahaalddin.

Kubo’s strike came after the Koreans had recovered from being two goals down on a night of absorbing action at Bogor’s Pakansari Stadium.

The victory sees Japan go to the top of the Group B table, two points ahead of both Thailand and Iraq who drew 3-3 in the group’s earlier game.

Malaysia will face the two-time champion Saudis, runners-up in Bahrain two years ago, in their opening fixture, having ended a run of five consecutive failed attempts to reach the tournament proper.

Former Johor Darul Ta'zim boss Hodak says that now the side have reached the Finals in neighbouring Indonesia, they will be looking extract every ounce of experience from the competition.

The Southeast Asians were made to dig deep against a side making its first appearance at the tournament for 44 years, with goals from Witan Sulaeman – his second of the game – and Egy Maulana Vikri eventually ensuring a 3-1 win for the hosts despite Chinese Taipei drawing level at one point.

“It was a great victory and I want to thank my players for their endless effort until the very last minute,” declared Sjafri.

“Our opponents played with a compact defence which certainly caused us some issues in the first half, but thanks to a change in tactics after the break we managed to reduce the pressure on ourselves somewhat by attacking more from the flanks.

Goals from Ahmad Fawzi and the impressive Ali Saleh provided a welcome start to the UAE’s campaign in Group A, one which sees them occupying second spot behind hosts Indonesia who beat Chinese Taipei 3-1 to assume pole position.

Although not entirely happy with every aspect of the display against their regional rivals, Balleti believes there were enough positives to underline the potential that exists within the Emirati squad.