Milicic was assistant coach to Socceroos boss Ange Postecoglou when the Australians scraped past a determined Syria on their way to securing a spot at Russia 2018, and the 43-year-old knows his team face a similar challenge when they meet Hussein Afash’s side on Thursday.

“Look at those games that our senior national team played against Syria,” said Milicic. “I’ve a lot of respect for that team and when we played those games players like Omar Khribin, Omar Al Somah and Firas Al Khatib showed they are fantastic footballers and I'm sure they’ll have some future stars at this tournament.

The midfielder has spent the last two seasons playing in the K League Classic, first with Incheon United and then at Gangwon FC, and the 22-year-old is determined to leave an impression in his side’s tournament opener.

“I’m quite confident that we can make something happen here, something special,” he told the-AFC.com. “I’ve had two years in Korea but I didn’t improve a lot, so I just want to prove to them that I can play in Korea.”

Since moving to Incheon on loan from Hoang Anh Gia Lai in 2015, Xuan Truong has had a minimal impact in Korean football, with the step up in standard from the Vietnamese league proving a significant hurdle.

But, despite the difficulties adapting to life in a new country and in a new culture, he is relishing the experience over the last two seasons.

“It’s been a very big challenge because the K League is much better than the Vietnamese league, so I had to start from zero,” he said.

“Everything is new and everything was very difficult for me. Fortunately, my friends in Korea have helped me a lot and the two years have given me a lot of experience there. I love Korea.

“The Korean players are very professional in everything. In every situation they always think about what they have to do. They think about football and talk about football all the time and that makes the team better.”

While the Vietnamese begin their campaign against the Koreans, they will also face Australia and Syria in Group D, with the country hopeful of continuing their growth on the continental stage.

The Koreans threw away a two-goal lead in the final 24 minutes against their great rivals as the Japanese won the title for the first time to leave the Shin Tae-yong-coached side devastated.

Just a single player – Belgium-based defender Hwang Ki-wook – remains in the squad from the one that was selected in 2016 but Hwang is hoping he and his teammates have the experience required to avoid a similar outcome later in the tournament.

“As the representatives of Korea Republic, we will do our best and our goal is to get the championship,” said the 22-year-old FC Seoul midfielder. 

“Two years ago we lost to Japan in the final. That was a bad experience, but hopefully we have learned from that and we can do better this time.”

“That was my first involvement with the Olyroos and it was a real eye-opener, especially playing in Asia and against other national teams,” said Deng (pictured above, No 20) of the 2016 campaign. “That was good and it’s taught me a lot about what to expect, how to deal with things here.

“We have a good squad here, a good group of boys and we’re looking forward to the competition. We have a very good team, some very good players and we’re really looking forward to it and hopefully we can start with a win against Syria and have a successful campaign.”

Australia’s status as one of the strongest nations in the Confederation – thanks to their AFC Asian Cup win in 2015 and four consecutive FIFA World Cup qualifications – ensures theirs is a significant scalp for many opponents.

But despite teams often raising their game to face Australia, Deng insists he and his teammates relish the challenge.