Midfielder Jeggo, who plays his club football with Austria Wien in the Austrian Bundesliga, was a late inclusion in Australia’s 23-man squad for the Continental showpiece after Aaron Mooy pulled out with a knee injury.

His disappointment at having missed out turned to joy and Jeggo says he is determined to play a key role as Australia prepare to defend the title they won four years ago on home soil.

Had he been selected, his Cardiff City schedule would have allowed him to play one game for his country — against Korea Republic on January 7 — which he felt would have been unfair to other aspirants for the job, the 28-year-old said after manager Sven-Goran Eriksson named his 23-man squad on Thursday.

“It wasn’t an easy decision to make,” Etheridge told Philippines media. “As people know, I’ve worked so hard to be playing every week in the Premier League. After a long discussion with people involved, it would be unfair for me to take a spot of another player.”

Bahrain, who will play hosts UAE in the opening match of the Continental showpiece on January 5, took the lead through Mohammed Al Romaihi in the ninth minute.

Ahmad Jumaa doubled Bahrain's advantage in the 35th minute.

Jamal Rashed added the third for Bahrain, who defeated Lebanon 1-0 in a friendly on December 26, in the 65th minute before Kameel Al Aswad sealed an emphatic win for Miroslav Soukup's side just a minute later.

Katanec represented Yugoslavia at the 1984 and 1988 Olympic Games besides the European Championship in 1984 and the FIFA World Cup in 1990. He is considered one of the greatest players from Yugoslavia and among the new nations to emerge after its break-up. He has also played for Slovenia, besides coaching them for more than eight years in two stints.

In this exclusive chat with the-AFC.com, the former defensive midfielder talks about Iraq’s chances in the AFC Asian Cup.

The Spaniard, whose side have been drawn to face Lebanon, DPR Korea and three-time winners Saudi Arabia in Group E, will kick off their campaign in Al Ain on January 9 against the Lebanese and Sanchez is refusing to look beyond the meeting at the Hazza bin Zayed Stadium.

“Since I took over in September I have been trying a lot of things. My focus is on developing a system and so far I am very happy with the progress the team and I have made,” former Belgian international Borkelmans told the-AFC.com in an exclusive interview.

“The players have responded well to my methods. In fact, credit to them that they made my job of selecting the team very difficult!”

Football fans from across the globe will feast their eyes on the abundance of talent from the 552 players selected and leading the way is none other than Uzbekistan’s Ignatiy Nesterov who is in line to join an exclusive elite group to feature in a record fifth AFC Asian Cup tournament.