Most pre-tournament favorites have met strong challenge and had to try their best to avoid awkward results. Australia, the hottest favorites in the title race would have sunk if there had not been Tim Cahill's injury time equalizer against an undaunted Oman side.

Graham Arnold, boss of the socceroos admitted that it felt like getting out of the jail after his guys heard the final whistle in the extreme hot and damp weather of Thailand.

Another star-studded powerhouse Iran also suffered a lot from their first opponent, fighting hard from one goal down to overturn a well-organized Uzbekistan squad.

Defending champions Japan picked only one point after tenacious Qatar leveled the score two minutes from time.

Only China, who was not labeled one of the trophy contenders, gave an almost perfect show with a 5-1 emphatic win over Malaysia, which brought an end to the hosts' fairy tale in the meantime.

The other three co-hosts Thailand, Vietnam and Indonesia all had some shocking play against stronger sides. Thailand tied Iraq 1-1 in the curtain-raiser, Vietnam beat United Arab Emirates 2-0, while Indonesia overshadowed Bahrain 2-1 to add more flavor.

The last match between South Korea and Saudi Arabia further aggravated the strange atmosphere, when a sudden power failure in the 85th minute at the Gelora Bung Karno Stadium made the game suspended for about 30 minutes, leaving all the players just sitting helplessly on the pitch and the bench, and leading the coaches, match officials and organizers to a total mess in the darkness.