Qatar are pinning their Asian Cup hopes on a man they dub their Maradona making a successful return from injury.
Precociously talented Khalfan Ibrahim, a former Asian player of the year, will be the centrepiece of the Qatari campaign which starts Sunday against the United Arab Emirates in Canberra.
Also Sunday, Iran, Asia's top-ranked nation entering the cup, play their tournament opener against Bahrain in Melbourne.
Qatar's Ibrahim missed his country's Gulf Cup triumph last November with a knee injury.
But the winger who is renowned for his trickery is fit and motivated to claim his first title with Qatar, coach Djamal Belmadi said.
"He has played eight years for the national team and hasn't won a major trophy because unfortunately he was injured for the Gulf Cup," Belmadi said.
"So, for sure, he has a lot of ambition personally and also he knows that now he is in a team that has won already.
"Everybody wishes that he can reach his individual target and of course a collective target of having a great competition with the team."
Ibrahim, 26, is well-known by the Socceroos after scoring Qatar's winning goal in a friendly last October before suffering his injury.
But Belmadi said Qatar couldn't afford to be a one-man band against the UAE, whose coach Madhi Ali is rated as a shrewd manager.
The Emirates also have a star player of their own with added motivation: striker Ali Mabkhout hopes an Asian Cup scoring spree could help him land a move to Europe.
Mabkhout top-scored in the Gulf Cup and also hit the net more times than any other player during Asian Cup qualification.
"Being a top-scorer makes me even more determined and motivated to do my best in this competition," said Mabkhout, who plays in the UAE domestic competition.
"If I have the chance to play in Europe it would be great for me."
In Sunday's other match, Iran will carry favouritism not just to down Bahrain but also expectations of challenging for the title.
"We qualified with the best record of all the teams and Iran fans are expecting big things of us," star forward star forward Reza Ghoochannejhad said.
"We need to go out and do our job and forget about the pressure. We've been working well for the last year and I hope we can keep on making progress."
In Group A action on Saturday, South Korea beat Oman 1-0 to sit behind Australia on goal difference, the Socceroos having beaten Kuwait 4-1 on Friday night and they face Oman in their next match.
In Group B, Uzbekistan beat North Korea 1-0 and China downed Saudi Arabia, also 1-0.
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