Despite having already begun his professional career as a 19-year-old in 2016, last year's campaign proved to be a banner year for Kim who shot to prominence on the Continental club stage as part of an exciting Daegu FC side who made headlines in their AFC Champions League debut.

Songkhla is set to feature a feast of football with five of Group C's six fixtures taking place in southern Thailand. Taking to the field at Tinsulanon Stadium will be defending champions Uzbekistan, perennial contenders Korea Republic, China PR and Islamic Republic of Iran.

We have picked out four players capable of shining in Songkhla.

The Korea Football Association announced on Monday that Valencia CF midfielder Lee (pictured above) and SV Darmstadt 98 midfielder Paik Seung-ho are not available for the tournament which also serves as the Qualifiers for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.

The East Asians have been one of the strongest teams in the competition over the years, finishing runners-up in 2016 and reaching the semi-finals in 2014 and 2018 but, despite always finishing in the top four sides, they have yet to lift the title.

Korea Republic will again begin the tournament as one of the favourites to be crowned champions and Ulsan Hyundai midfielder Lee is desperate for his country to claim a trophy that has so far eluded them.

Sherzhod Nasrullaev, Mirjakhon Mirakhmadov and Khojiakbar Alijonov were all on the scoresheet for Ljubinko Drulovic’s charges, while Munthader Sattar found the net for Iraq.

Uzbekistan’s win follows an earlier 4-2 victory over Iraq, as well as a 4-0 success against local club outfit Al Arabi, as the Central Asian side prepare to defend their Asian title in Thailand next month.

In the running for the final spot are Lee Kang-in, who plays for Spanish club Valencia CF and midfielder Paik Seung-ho from German outfit SV Darmstadt 98.

Both Lee and Paik have played for the senior Korea Republic national team. Lee, 18, also starred for the U-20 national squad this year, leading Korea Republic to the final at the FIFA U-20 World Cup Poland 2019 and winning the Golden Ball as the tournament's best player.

The midfielder skippered the Central Asians as they advanced from a qualifying group that featured Iraq, Turkmenistan and Yemen after finishing as one of the best-placed runners up in March to book their ticket to the Continental competition, which also acts as the Olympic Games qualifiers.

Four years ago in Qatar, when Olympic qualification was also on the line, Iran progressed to the quarter-finals before defeat at the hands of Japan. After missing out on the U-23 showpiece in 2018, they return looking to go at least one better this time round a give themselves a chance of appearing at Tokyo 2020.