Opening match of AFC Asian Cup will be tough: Australia's coach

Friday's opening game of the AFC Asian Cup against Kuwait will be a tough one, said Australia's coach Ange Postecoglou on Thursday after the last training before the match.

"They've always been a difficult opponent for Australia, and as I said it's their time to shine, we won't be underestimating them by any stretch," Postecoglou said at a media conference.

"But at the same time, we will focus on ourselves and make sure we play well, and if we play well, we'll be a handful for anybody, including Kuwait," he added.

The coach also confirmed that the host team had already decided the starting line-up of the game at Melbourne Rectangular Stadium.

He said, "from my perspective, the decisions have been made but at the same time we're very mindful that anything can happen on game day, whether that be in the morning of the game, in the warm-up or even during the game early. From my perspective, we've got all the players ready to go, but in terms of the final selection, yes that decision has been made."

Appointed as head coach of Kuwait about one month before the start of the tournament, Nabil Maaloul said the preparation period is very short, but the players have quickly adapted to his way of training.

"I think the players are ready to play their first game against Australia tomorrow," he said. "Australia have been a very strong team since they started playing in the Asian Confederation. They have a high level of physical fitness and a lot of good key players, and many other strong points," Maaloul said.

"We feel big pressure as the national team, but we hope this pressure will turn into a positive pressure," he added.

Kuwait lost all three group stage games at the previous AFC Asian Cup in 2011, where Australia in contrast reached the final.

The tournament will be concluded on January 31, and a total of 16 teams will play 32 matches in Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Newcastle and Canberra. Endi