Although they left it to the end, Johor Darul Ta'zim and Buriram United ultimately had their destiny in their own hands.
And as the East Region of the AFC Champions League Elite began concluding its league-stage proceedings on Tuesday evening, Southeast Asia's two representatives were able to get the job done and march on to the round of 16 -- ensuring they will continue flying the flag for the region.
Buriram were the first of the two to be in action and it initially looked as though they would be cruising to victory, as they impressively established a two-goal lead away to Gwangju FC inside 35 minutes.
Nonetheless, a second-half Gwangju rally -- sparked by two goals in seven minutes by Oh Hu-Seong -- resulted in a nervy finish for the Thai League 1 outfit although they were able to hold out for the point they needed from the 2-2 draw.
Meanwhile, JDT found themselves trailing at home to Pohang Steelers but produced a spirited comeback to be in control of proceedings courtesy of goals from Óscar Arribas, Bérgson da Silva and Arif Aiman.
While Pohang pulled one back to set up a grandstand finish, JDT were able to respond with Jesé and Jorge Obregón netting in injury-time to seal a thrilling 5-2 victory.
Reaching the knockout round certainly isn't an unprecedented feat for either, or Southeast Asian teams for that matter.
In the previous iteration of the tournament, Buriram twice made it out of the group stage - even reaching the quarterfinals in 2013 -- while JDT reached the last 16 of the ACL for the first time in 2022.
Yet, considering clubs from Japan, South Korea and China have traditionally been viewed as the eastern powerhouses, the presence of Malaysian and Thai upstarts in the knockout round suggests that the established order is there to be disturbed.
Australian football, for so long part of the East Region's top four, have certainly fallen away. Central Coast Mariners, their sole representatives this season, failed to win a single match and finished with just one point from their eight matches.
Although they originally struggled, Chinese football will have two of its three representatives advancing.
Remarkably, South Korea will only be represented by debutants Gwangju, after Pohang were eliminated by the defeat to JDT while Ulsan HD were long out of the running following a woeful campaign that has seen them win once so far ahead of Wednesday's finale against Shandong Taishan.
It is also a natural process that JDT and Buriram are looking to -- perhaps even primarily focused -- on making an impact on the continental stage. It is the next logical step forward given the domestic dominance they have enjoyed.
While they face more competition, Buriram have been champions of Thailand for the past three seasons and are on course to do that once more this season. JDT have won ten consecutive Malaysia Super League titles.
The moves they are making that has led to a changing of the guard in the ACL Elite in the immediate term could also have longer-term repercussions, with competition slots allocated based on AFC member association's respective club competitions ranking.
The further Southeast Asian teams progress, and the more often it happens, the better the chances of them being joined by more of their compatriots in future editions.
For now, the flag will be flown by JDT and Buriram -- to be continued when the round of 16 commences on March 6.