The 64-year-old has one of the most illustrious resumes in Asian football, having broken his home nation’s Olympic qualification drought in 1996, won the AFC Champions League with Gamba Osaka in 2008 and led the Samurai Blue to the knockout rounds at the 2018 FIFA World Cup.

Now, six months after being appointed head coach of Thailand’s U23 and senior national sides, Nishino enters the Finals of his first continental competition leading his new charges knowing the odds are stacked against him.

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.

Thailand have appeared in two of three editions of the AFC U23 Championship but, unlike regional rivals Malaysia and Vietnam, they are yet to appear in the knockout stage, suffering group stage eliminations at Qatar 2016 and China PR 2018.

Now, with the tournament hosted on home soil, star forward Supachok believes that it could be Thailand's time to shine in the Continental competition.

Vietnam are now the undisputed kings of ASEAN football, having added the 2019 SEA Games gold to the 2018 AFF Cup title.

The results of the various national teams, explains Vietnam Football Federation Vice-President Dr Tran Quoc Tuan to the-AFC.com, has massively boosted interest in the game and the Southeast Asian nation is determined to take the next step forward.

The Lions of Mesopotamia have a proud record in the AFC U23 Championship, winning the inaugural edition – when it was the AFC U-22 Championship – in Oman before finishing third in Qatar two years later to book their ticket to the Rio de Janeiro Olympics.

While they exited at the group stage in Brazil, the West Asians were unbeaten and secured an excellent scoreless draw with the hosts, who eventually won the competition.

Twelve years earlier in Athens, meanwhile, Iraq narrowly missed out on the bronze medal after finishing fourth following a closely fought 1-0 loss to Italy in the third place play-off.

Arnold, who coaches the U23 side as well as the senior side, has been charged with leading his nation’s attempt to qualify for the Olympic football tournament in Japan as the Australians seek to secure a spot at the Finals for the first time since 2008.

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.