"The level of Asian football is relatively high..., I think the level of Asian football is moving forward," the Dutch coach told journalists.

"To tell you the truth before I came to Asia, I didn't think Asian football was so good, but this Asia football cup has let me see the whole of Asian football."

Haan, at the helm of the Chinese team for two years, has been tasked to win the Asian Cup and qualify for 2006 World Cup 2006 in Germany.

If successful, China will have won the Asian Cup for the first time, and made the World Cup for only the second.

"Up until now the Asian Cup matches have been very exciting," Haan told Titan Sports.

"Just like (the Iran) match, I think the level of the match between us and Iran was very high, the match was exciting and the pace of the game very fast. You could say it had the elements of a high level match."

Haan, who played in two World Cup finals and won the European Cup three times with Ajax in the 1970s, has been impressed at how his side has adopted his "total football" philosophy made famous by legendary Dutch star Johann Cruyff.

"I have been very surprised with some of the players performances at this Asian Cup. High is not the word to describe the play, it has been very, very high," he said.

Saturday's grudge match with Japan could seal China's place among the Asian football elite beside the defending champions and other traditional powers like South Korea, Saudi Arabia and Iran.

"The Japanese team is a leading team in Asian football, but we can beat them," Haan said.

"This will be a very wonderful thing. But you saw how difficult it was for us to beat Iran (in the semi-final)."