'Asian Cup' for amateurs not taken lightly

Amateur players from Asian communities across Melbourne are pulling on their national colours to do battle on the football pitch.

Coin toss time at the Melbourne Asian Cup.

It's still four-hundred and four days until the Asian Cup begins here in Australia, but football lovers in Victoria are already getting in the mood.

Over the next three months they'll compete in the Melbourne Asian Cup with the final to be held as a Melbourne Victory curtain raiser.

Launched on Sunday to great fanfare, the Melbourne Asian Cup brings together local communities from the competing nations of the second oldest continental football championships in the world.

The task? Get the best amateur players from each community to pull on their nation's jersey and kick for the old country. 

Held in January 2015, the Asian Cup proper is the biggest sporting event to be hosted in Australia since the 2000 Olympics.