The former Manchester City stalwart said Asian football has been progressing rapidly and Asia's five teams - Australia, Islamic Republic of Iran, Korea Republic, Japan and Saudi Arabia - will surely do their best in Russia 2018.

"Their target, besides advancing to the Knockout Stage, will be to show that Asian teams are closing in on European and South American sides," said Sun Jihai in an exclusive interview with the-AFC.com.

Eleven years after the foundation of AFC, DPR Korea were pitted against Australia, South Africa and Korea Republic in the first round of qualifying for the 1966 FIFA World Cup in England. South Africa was then banned by FIFA due to apartheid, and Korea Republic withdrew, leaving DPR Korea and Australia to compete for the World Cup ticket.

Reims – On a typical summer day in June of 1938, the Dutch East Indies lined up in a first round match at the second edition of the FIFA World Cup against Hungary. The Hungarians’ 6-0 win over their opponents that day may have been straightforward, but the Asian side’s journey towards discovering their identity as a football team was anything but.

Leading from the back or scoring memorable goals at the grandest of stages, these 5 players set the bar high for Asian players as five Asian countries head to Russia for the 2018 FIFA World Cup.