The inclusion of two Australian teams has added a new dimension to this season's AFC Champions League, which kicks off with 13 matches in 12 different countries on Wednesday.

Sydney FC and Adelaide United will both make their debuts in Asia's premier club competition, which will be contested over eight months by 28 teams from 15 countries. 

Australia's decision to ditch Oceania and join Asia in search of better competition has drawn criticism from some parts of Asia, but many senior officials including FIFA President Sepp Blatter believe the move will improve standards of Asian soccer.

While the Australian national team is one of the favorites to win the Asian Cup this year, the two club teams are just happy to be playing in the Champions League.

"It's an historic event for Australian football," Sydney captain Mark Rudan told the Sydney Morning Herald.

"All of the Sydney players involved will be able to look back on their careers and say we, along with Adelaide United, were the first to represent Australia in this event.

"The players realise only too well how important an occasion it is."

Most of Australia's top internationals are based in Europe and because the Champions League draw was finalised before the end of the 2007 season, the country's leading club Melbourne, will not be included until next season.

Tough draw

The two Australian teams are also drawn in the toughest half of the draw, alongside other teams from Asean and East Asia, who make up three of the seven groups.

The remaining four groups are made up of teams from West and Central & South Asia.

Sydney, who qualified by winning the inaugural A-League championship in 2006, were drawn in Group E along with teams from China, Japan and Indonesia while Adelaide are in Group F with clubs from China, South Korea and Vietnam.

Asean and East Asian clubs have won nine of the last 13 Asian club titles although Middle East teams have won three of the past four with Al Ittihad (Saudi Arabia) triumphing in 2004 and 2005 and Al Ain (United Arab Emirates) in 2003.

The defending champions, Chonbuk Motors of South Korea, have been given an automatic place in this year's quarterfinals, with the seven remaining spots to be awarded to the group winners.

The competition has already attracted controversy after Esteghal Tehran, champions in 1970 and 1991, were disqualified for failing to fulfil player registration requirements, leaving one of the seven groups a team short.

(China Daily via Agencies March 5, 2007)