With only the group winners and four best runner-up guaranteed a spot in the AFC U23 Championship finals in Bangkok next year, big margin wins in other matches put a real dampener in what was a positive start for Ong Kim Swee's team in the qualifiers.
Japan won 8-0, Myanmar won 7-0, South Korea won 8-0, China won 5-0 and Iraq won 5-0 to put a real importance in the goal difference heading into the final reckoning. While it's true that all those teams could finish top of their respective groups, it cannot be overlooked that Japan and Myanmar are in the same Group I.