New era beckons for Asian Cup

When the 14th Asian Cup kicks off on Saturday it will mark the start of not only the region's premier soccer event but also the beginning of a bold new era for the sport in Asia.

For joining Japan, South Korea, Iran and Saudi Arabia in the tournament are Australia, who defected to Asia from Oceania in January last year in search of bigger competitions and better opposition.

With the Socceroos come a host of players straight from soccer's biggest stage.

England's Premier League, Spain's Primera Liga, Italy's Serie A and German's Bundesliga are all represented by members of the Australian side that have been installed as favourites.

Their presence has added glitter and a global element to what had been a parochial region contest between the makeweights of world soccer.

This year's tournament has been brought forward by 12 months to avoid clashing with the 2008 Beijing Olympics and will be held in four countries - Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand and Vietnam - for the first time.

The Asian Football Confederation (AFC) hoped the co-hosting arrangement would help spread the tournament's appeal but have already conceded the added logistical problems have made their job harder and vowed never to repeat the exercise.

Significant change

Yet the most significant change is neither the date change nor the venues, but rather the inclusion of Australia.

The Socceroos, featuring Harry Kewell, Mark Viduka, Tim Cahill and Lucas Neill, are drawn in Pool A with Thailand, Oman and Iraq.

Thailand play Iraq in the opening match at Bangkok's Rajamangala stadium on Saturday before the Socceroos tackle Oman at the same venue the next day.

Japan, who have won three of the last four Asian Cups, are in Pool B with Vietnam, Uzbekistan and United Arab Emirates.

They are unbeaten this year but have rarely played with the flair or passion they showed when they co-hosted the 2002 World Cup.

Japan's opening match is against Qatar in Hanoi.

Iran, who won the tournament three times in a row from 1968 to 1976, are in Pool C with Malaysia, Uzbekistan and China.

The most open of the four groups is Pool D in Indonesia and including the hosts, South Korea, Saudi Arabia and Bahrain.

South Korea won the first two Asian Cups in 1956 and 1960 but have been unable to live up to their early success despite reaching the World Cup semi-finals in 2002.

Saudi Arabia, like Japan and their Middle East neighbours Iran, have won the title three times.

The final is in Jakarta on July 29.

Facts and figures...

• The 2007 Asian Cup will be co-hosted by Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand and Vietnam from July 7-29. The opening match will be staged in Bangkok and the final will be in Jakarta. Vietnam and Malaysia will host the semi-finals.

• The co-hosts qualified automatically for the finals. The remaining 12 places were decided by a qualifying tournament, played over six rounds.

• The successful nations were Australia, Bahrain, China, Iran, Iraq, Japan, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, South Korea, United Arab Emirates and Uzbekistan.

• The tournament was first held in 1956. It was staged every four years until 2004 but the 14th edition has been brought forward to 2007 to avoid clashing with the Olympics.

• Iran, Japan and Saudi Arabia have won the title three times each. South Korea have won twice while Kuwait and Israel have won once.

Previous champions

1956 South Korea; 1960 South Korea; 1964 Israel; 1968 Iran; 1972 Iran; 1976 Iran; 1980 Kuwait; 1984 Saudi Arabia; 1988 Saudi Arabia; 1992 Japan; 1996 Saudi Arabia; 2000 Japan; 2004 Japan.