The 27-year-old China PR international struck the opening goal on 64 minutes in Russia, clinically dinking the ball over CSKA goalkeeper Igor Akinfeev after a slick pass from Matias Vargas.

Wu, who was later booked for a dive, joined Espanyol from Shanghai SIPG in January for a reported 2 million euros.

Lippi was rightly pleased after China PR - and history-making debutant Elkeson who netted two late goals - lived up to all expectations with a dominant victory in the island nation to move to the top of Group A on goal difference.

But Lippi, who famously led his native Italy to the FIFA World Cup title in 2006, said there is plenty of work ahead if his side are to achieve their primary objective of advancing to the next round of the Asian Qualifiers.

Brazilian-born Elkeson became the first player without Chinese ancestry to ever play for the national team, and capped his debut with two late goals, as China PR made light work of the hosts to ease to a comprehensive win.

Wu Xi, Wu Lei and Yang Xu also scored for the East Asians, who lead the way in Group A on goal difference as one of four teams on three points.

Vahyt Oraszahedov retains his place in the travelling party for the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 and AFC Asian Cup China 2023 qualifying tie following a purple patch with Kyrgyz Republic champions FC Dordoi, while Altyn Asyr FC youngster Mihail Titov has earned a calli-up after showing strong form in Turkmenistan’s domestic Yokary Liga.

Nepal suffered a 7-0 defeat to Kuwait in their opening FIFA World Cup Qatar 2020 and AFC Asian Cup China 2023 qualifying match on September 5 but showed tremendous grit just five days later as they rebounded with a 2-0 win over Chinese Taipei.

Al Khatib announced the end of his playing days on his Twitter account, saying: “After 26 years which I can never forget, I announce my complete retirement as a player and hopefully, the future will be better.”

The 36-year-old forward's announcement came just days after Syria national team head coach Fajr Ibrahim had said that Al Khatib does not feature in his plans any more.

Son Heung-min leads the Korea squad, who will play Sri Lanka and DPR Korea in the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 and AFC Asian Cup China 2023 Asian Qualifiers but Jae-ik's inclusion is based on his performance in the FIFA U-20 World Cup Poland 2019.

Korea Republic emerged runners-up after a phenomenal performance and Bento has obviously marked Jae-ik, who plays for Qatar's Al Rayyan, as a future national team stalwart.

"I felt that this was the right time for him to join the senior team and show us what he has. We have a lot of depth in his position (at centre-back). He'll not be guaranteed playing time, but we'll see how competitive he can be against national team veterans," said Bento.