Tim Cahill (front R) of Australia celebrates after scoring against Japan during their international friendly soccer match in Osaka, western Japan November 18, 2014.
Tim Cahill (front R) of Australia celebrates after scoring against Japan during their international friendly soccer match in Osaka, western Japan November 18, 2014. REUTERS/Thomas Peter

The 2015 Asian Cup will kick off on Friday evening Jan. 9, 2015 with a glitzy opening ceremony that is intended to showcase the Australian culture. The 11-minute show will feature the popular Australian singer Havana Brown and the pop band Sheppard along with 200 other junior performers to accompany them. This will kick off the 23 days 2015 Asian Cup tournament. It will consist of 32 games between 16 top Asian footballing nations. The tournament is expected to have around 800 million television viewers.

The first match of the tournament will see the hosts Australia take on Kuwait. Australia had a decent 2014 FIFA World Cup but unfortunately it did not reflect in their match results. There form since then have dipped considerably. They have won only one of the next five matches, drawing another and losing the other three.

Manager Ange Postecoglou and captain Mile Jedinak should impress upon his players the importance of winning the first match of the tournament. They will have much higher caliber teams to play as they progress in the tournament.

The manager is likely to stick to his 4-3-3 formation. Mat Ryan will get the nod in the goal. The back four will consist of Ivan Franjic, Alex Wilkinson, Matthew Spiranovic and Aziz Behich. Skipper Mile Jedinak will screen the back four. The other two in the midfield should be the veteran Mark Bresciano and Tommy Oar. Australia's leading scorer Tim Cahill will most definitely lead the attack. He would be joined by Robbie Kruse and Mathew Leckie to complete the top three.

Kuwait on the other hand did not have an ideal journey into this Asian Cup. The winners back in 1980 had to sack their Brazilian coach Jorvan Vieira after his team disappointed in the recently concluded Gulf Cup. The new boss Nabil Maaloul of Tunisia has got just one month to prepare for the competition. It is expected that they will sit back and play on the counter attack against the hosts. Kuwait have drawn three of their last five matches and won and lost the other two. Kuwait have lost just three of the 10 internationals against Australia.

To contact the author of this article email a.biswas@IBTimes.com.au

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