Luis Suarez appeared to have inspired another turnaround at the RCDE Stadium after he cancelled out David Lopez's opener with a deft half-volley before digging out an exquisite pass for substitute Arturo Vidal to finish.

But a red card for Frenkie de Jong with 16 minutes left gave Espanyol renewed hope and Chinese forward Wu emerged the hero, firing past stand-in goalkeeper Neto to rescue a point in Abelardo Fernandez's first game in charge.

The 44-year-old Dutchman succeeds the attack-minded Dragan Stojkovic, whose departure was announced less than 24 hours earlier.

The Chinese Football Association (CFA) said Li, who played in China's only FIFA World Cup Finals appearance in 2002, is an "outstanding representative of Chinese football players" and was appointed after an open process.

Li is already familiar with the national side having been in temporary charge during the EAFF Championship in Korea Republic last month. The 42-year-old was the manager of Chinese Super League club Wuhan Zall before his appointment.

The Vancouver Whitecaps midfielder – the only player on the pitch currently playing his club football outside of East Asia - made all the difference with a sweetly hit 28th-minute goal, which ultimately secured Paulo Bento’s first piece of silverware as national team coach.

Earlier, China PR defeated Hong Kong 2-0 to finish third.

Japan, who overtook Islamic Republic of Iran for top spot in last month's Rankings, maintained their position at 28th, with the Central Asians also unchanged at 33rd.

Korea Republic moved a rung up to 40th in third, while Australia maintained 42nd spot.

Qualifying action for the two premier competitions will resume on March 26 as the players - depending on where they play their club football - either return to their teams or get some much needed break.

Join the-AFC.com as we take a look at five talking points at this stage of a thrilling Asian Qualifiers.

Syria made it five wins from five to seize control of Group A as the West Asians will take a whopping eight-point lead into 2020 after defeating Philippines 1-0.

Turkmenistan will also head into the new year as Group H leaders, with their 1-0 win over Sri Lanka and the Lebanon-DPR Korea tie ending in a goalless stalemate giving the Central Asian side a one-point lead.

The Asian Qualifiers will resume on March 26.