Australia will launch their attempt to reach new heights in football by toppling champions Japan and winning their first Asian Cup when they kick off the tournament on Friday. A sell-out crowd is expected at the 30,000-capacity Melbourne Rectangular Stadium as Ange Postecoglou's men take on Kuwait on day one of the 16-nation extravaganza.
An eventual victory for Australia would put the country on top at both club and international level after Western Sydney Wanderers won the AFC Champions League in November. Four-time winners Japan are one of their main rivals, despite a match-fixing case swirling around their coach, and Carlos Queiroz's Iran also look like top contenders.
South Korea are looking to end a 55-year title drought, but the draw has been unkind to 2011 semi-finalists Uzbekistan who are likely to face the Koreans or Australia if they reach the quarter-finals. Among the minnows, Palestine have overcome major hurdles to qualify for the first time, and North Korea are trying to escape the group stage for the first occasion since 1980. Australia joined the Asian Football Confederation in 2006 but have yet to lift the region's most coveted trophy, after being edged out by Japan in a gripping final in 2011.
Australia's opener against 1980 winners Kuwait heralds the start of a 32-game fiesta which gets into full swing with a triple-header on Saturday: Uzbekistan v North Korea, South Korea v Oman, and Saudi Arabia v China. Games are being played in Melbourne, Sydney, Brisbane, Canberra and Newcastle, with the final at Sydney's 83,500-capacity Stadium Australia on January 31.