With the competition also serving as the qualifiers for April’s 2017 FIFA Beach Soccer Championship in the Bahamas, the stakes are indeed high on the east coast of Malaysia.

And despite Malaysia only having previously appeared on the world stage in 1999 at the then Beach Soccer World Championship, Ismail believes the host nation will not be overawed when they face their more illustrious opponents.

“Malaysia are progressing in this exciting game and we want to show the people in our country that we can put up a good fight against the strong teams such as Iran and Bahrain,” said Ismail during Friday’s Group A press conference.

“We are surely developing this game and instead of feeling intimidated by the experience of the other teams, we want to have an experience of our own.”

Meanwhile, the Islamic Republic of Iran arrive in Malaysia as one of the pre-tournament favourites and – as 2013 title winners – are expected by many to progress beyond the Group Stage with relative ease.

However, head coach Mohammad Hoseyn Mirshamsi is refusing to attach too much relevance to previous performances and is, instead, fully focussed on the task at hand.

“We have had great preparations for the game which is growing rapidly in popularity in Iran,” he said. “I’ve been with the national team for close to two years and we need to focus on what we have to do now to be successful without looking back too much to our achievements.

“There have been a lot of changes to the national team and what we should be doing now is to gel together as a team and make it difficult for our opponents to beat us.”

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Bahrain were the competition’s inaugural winners some 11 years ago after beating Japan in the 2006 final, but three years later, a twist of fate saw the West Asians lose out to the Japanese in the title showdown.

Bahrain head coach Joao Almeida is however refusing to believe that Japan, who are in Group C, are the only team to beat at this year’s AFC Beach Soccer Championship, saying that several other nations have what it takes to win silverware in Malaysia.

“Of course we are craving the title once again after so many years and it won’t be easy,” the Portuguese tactician declared.

“It’s been a long time and we and the other teams have changed a lot. Japan are still the most powerful team in my personal opinion but the other teams such as reigning champions Oman, Lebanon, the UAE and China will also definitely be teams to reckon with.

“Some teams will advance to the semi-finals through a lot of matches while others do so after fewer matches. This can affect our emotions but we have to check ourselves against this. What’s important is we give our best because all teams are different and have their own strengths.”

China’s previous best performances were fourth-place finishes in 2006 and 2008 when defeats to Iran proved their undoing. Although his charges are set to face the Iranians once again, head coach Ling Luhui views the competition as a potentially excellent learning curve for the East Asian side.

“I hold high opinions of the coaches of the other four teams as China are a young team in beach soccer,” said Ling. “We want to learn from them and also enjoy our games against the best teams in Asia in order to further develop ourselves.

“In 2006 and 2008, there were fewer teams participating, but now, there are more. There’s a great chance for everyone to make it further in the competition and therefore focus is the name of the game.”

Afghanistan are making only their second AFC Beach Soccer Championship appearance after a 2013 debut, and head coach Rohullah Rastagar has his sights firmly set on success.

“We have problems with our security back home and therefore we started our preparations only a month ago,” he said. “However, we do dream big, that is, to make it to the World Cup.

“All the other teams presented their kind of challenge as they are different, so I’d say all of them are tough opponents, but we hope to be ready for them come matchdays.”

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