The Continental giants advanced to the knockout stage on the back of shock defeats in the preliminary round but their form picked up at the business end of the competition and Japan and Korea Republic are set for the next chapter in what has been an amazing football rivalry.

Join the-AFC.com as we preview what promises to be an enthralling first ever Asian Games final between two of the continent's most successful teams.

Japan will meet Korea Republic in Saturday's final while the UAE will go up against Vietnam in the bronze medal match.

There was plenty of action in the final third for both sides in the opening minutes as UAE came close several times, forcing Japanese goalkeeper Ryosuke Kojima into making some impressive saves while Japan’s attempts lacked the decisive edge.

In the final 10 minutes of the first half, Japan had two great chances - when Keita Endo sent a low cross into the box which a surging Daizen Maeda stooped low for a header but Emirati custodian Mohamed Al Shamsi was on hand to catch it in the 37th minute.

He then did the for Yuto Iwasaki’s volley six minutes later to keep the game goalless going into the break at the Pakan Sari Stadium.

The Taeguk Warriors, who will face Japan in Saturday's final, took an early lead off a counter-attack which was initiated by Hwang Hee-chan, who broke free in the middle and found Hwang Ui-jo in the box.

As the Vietnam players swarmed to make a clearance, Lee Seung-woo pounced on the loose ball to finish past Vietnam goalkeeper Ngyuen Van Noang in the seventh minute.

It was a battle of giants at the Patriot Chandrabhaga Stadium, which featured 2014 Incheon Asian Games gold medallists Korea Republic taking on the 2018 AFC U23 champions Uzbekistan.

A key difference from Korea Republic’s campaign four years ago was livewire and captain Son Heung-min, who brought in a wealth of experience to the young squad, and in the fifth minute, he surged down the middle before sending a superb through pass to the right to Hwang Ui-jo, who then released a crackling strike to open the scoring with his sixth goal of the tournament.

Japan pressured their opponents from the start and with Saudi Arabia pinned in their own half, the East Asians came close to scoring several times in the opening 20 minutes but Yuto Iwasaki and Daizen Maeda were wasteful in front of goal.

The Samurai Blue limited the West Asians’ advances and kept them quiet for the most part of the half with only Abdulrahman Abdullah Ghareeb’s coming close in the 26th minute.

Japan will face Saudi Arabia in the quarter-finals on Monday.

Group E winners Malaysia were tested from the start by Japan, who applied heavy pressure and dominated possession, but despite the East Asians’ best efforts in final third, the 2017 SEA Games runners-up held a solid defence.

Ong Kim Swee’s charges moved mostly on the counter-attack but a goal eluded them, as Japan’s backline reacted quickly to keep the game goalless going into the break at the Patriot Chandrabhaga Stadium.

Jeon Ga-eul's early brace got the Koreans off to a strong start, before further goals to Lee Geum-min, Moon Mira and Lee Min-a helped them set up a semi-final clash against either Japan or DPR Korea on Tuesday.

Riding high from a 6-1 win over Tajikistan, Hong Kong started relatively strongly to keep their opponents at bay, but the writing was on the wall when Jeon made 1-0 in the 20th minute, then doubled the tally 12 minutes later.

Hong Kong may have feared the worst when Lee Geum-min made it 3-0 after just 34 minutes, but - despite a vast disparity in statistics measuring possession and shots at goal - Jose Ricardo Rambo's side kept the score relatively competitive thanks to a string of saves from Leung Wai-Nga in goal.