From Korea Republic’s triumph in 1956 to Qatar’s success last year, the competition has come to represent Asian football at its finest, the embodiment of all that is good about the game we love so dearly. Of course, much has changed since the AFC Asian Cup’s inaugural event.

Both on and off the pitch, the continental gathering has moved with the times and morphed from its somewhat humble beginnings into a showpiece tournament which is now admired around the world.

Are you Graham Arnold or Park Hang-seo? Could you be Asako Takakura or Akira Nishino? Or is your coaching style similar to that of Usmon Toshev? Answer the questions and find out.

Also try: Which type of striker are you?

A busy weekend followed as Korea's 2020 season got underway with all 12 sides playing their opening rounds of fixtures, while the top flight in Chinese Taipei is now in full flow after the eight sides took to the pitch again on Sunday.

Elsewhere, the home workouts, dances and musicians continue to impress, so join the-AFC.com as we look back at the best of the action on and off the field from the East and ASEAN Zones.

Outside of the region, emerging Uzbekistan forward Jasurbek Yakhshiboev continued his stellar form in Belarus, while four of his countrymen got their own league campaigns underway in Korea Republic’s K League.

Join the-AFC.com for all the key news and results from Turkmenbashi to Toktogul.

Last week we presented the candidates for the 2016 edition's best goalkeeper, and now it's time to turn our attention to defenders.

So, here are 15 players in contention for the four places in the backline. Review the nominees and then choose your favourite defenders for this all-star XI in the respective polls.

From China PR’s world-renowned Steel Roses in the 1990s to Alireza Beiranvand’s stunning penalty save from Cristiano Ronaldo at Russia 2018, Asia’s finest have – time after time – proved more than a match for the rest of the planet.

Over the years, Asian sides and their players have also become synonymous with success. The titles and plaudits they have earned along the way helping ensure that Asia’s finest are both admired and feared by those they rub shoulders with on football’s loftiest stage.

Bakheet watched from the dugout as his international teammates took to the pitch to face Saudi Arabia at Zayed Sports City Stadium. For every single one of the 23 players dressed in white, whether on the field or on the bench, this was the game of their lives.

The UAE’s thrilling 1996 AFC Asian Cup campaign was culminating there, against a side that had appeared in each of the three previous finals of the competition, lifting the trophy in 1984 and 1988 before losing to Japan in 1992.