Thailand coach Chatchai Paholpot is hoping that his young side can follow the steps of Bahrain, Qatar and ASEAN rivals Indonesia to surprise Asian powerhouse Iran in their Group D opener on Tuesday in Chongqing.

While admitting that "getting a point would be a good result", Chatchai said that "I hope we play well on Tuesday and maybe even we will surprise a lot of people."

"Even though we are young team and because of the fact that two players were in Singapore and six in Vietnam we haven't had as long training together as we would like, I still hope that we will play well against a very strong Iran," Chatchai added.

The Thais go into the match without talismanic skipper Kiatisuk "Zico" Senamuang, who Chatchai insisted did not refuse to play for the team because of issues with the Thailand football authorities.

"Zico and Dusit (Chalermsan) have both played over 40 games in Vietnam. Also Zico is struggling with an ankle problem," he said.

The absence of the experienced Hoang Anh Gia Lai duo has been compounded by the almost certain absence of fellow V-League player Therdsak Chaiman.

Therdsak, MVP for Bangkok side BEC Tero Sasana in the final of the inaugural AFC Champions League before moving to East Asia Bank, was seen at Monday night's training session with his right thigh heavily bandaged and has all but been ruled out of Thailand's opening match.

"Therdsak has a problem with his hamstring which he injured during the last match against Newcastle. But maybe he'll be ready for the next game," lamented Chatchai.

Over in the Iran camp, coach Branko Ivankovic is playing down the fact that the three-time Asian Cup winners are clear favorites to win Tuesday's match.

"We have not had the best of experiences against the Thais in recent times," said Ivankovic, who had been one of four names reportedly on the short list for the head coach's job of his native Croatia.

"It was a draw in Bangkok three years ago and had a very tough game in Tehran during the 2002 World Cup qualifiers. I don't think it matters too much what has happened with their coach because they always have very skillful and fast players."

Although Iran are in good form having recently won the WAFF Championship on home soil with a team that blends the experience of veterans Ali Daei and Yahya Golmohammadi with the youthful talent of Arash Borhani, Eman Mobali and Hossein Kaebi, Ivankovic is not ruling out the chances of the three-time Tiger Cup champions.

"OK, we are favorites and we will do our best to live up to the expectations but let's not forget that the Thailand players are not going to show up just to lose. They want to win the game as much as we do and they will play strongly.

"I have said many times that the first match is always the toughest and if you look at the results of China (who drew 2-2 with Bahrain), Qatar (who lost 2-1 to Indonesia), and the Saudis (who were held 2-2 by Turkmenistan) you will see what I mean.

"These three teams were considered favorites, which shows that we must be very careful against Thailand."

Source: Xinhua