FIFA president Sepp Blatter and AFC president Mohamed Bin Hammam, who will arrive in Dhaka on the same morning, will grace the main function at the Bangabandhu National Stadium.

A 20-minute colourful function is on the cards in between the first and second matches -- Guam v Palestine followed by the Bangladesh v Cambodia game.

Following a march-past by the members of the armed forces to the tune of bands, 16 mounted horsemen will bring the national flags of the participating countries.

With the colours of FIFA, AFC, BFF and the tournament flag flying high, the guests will be welcomed by another cultural show concentrating on different national emblems before presenting the tournament logo.

The razzmatazz will be rounded off with a colourful dance where 150 boys and girls from a local organisation named Spandan will try to enthral the spectators enjoying the biggest tournament held in the country.

The MA Aziz Stadium will be the centre of attraction in the port city of Chittagong where schoolchildren are set to put up a grand show.

Meanwhile, India, Bhutan, Macau, Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan have arrived yesterday. The only remaining team to arrive are Nepal, due today.

IMAI EYES EASY SAIL
the-afc.com adds from Chittagong: Chinese Taipei coach Toshiaki Imai is confident of his team's progress to the quarterfinal of the inaugural AFC Challenge Cup.

The Japanese coach took over the reins of the side -- who won the Asian Games title twice in a row in 1954 and 1958 as Taiwan -- only two months back but said his young charges are raring to go in the 16-team event.

"This tournament is a good chance for the youngsters to prove their mettle," said Imai.

He said India's decision to field the youth team will help his side's cause.

"Certainly, it would have been difficult had India fielded the senior side but it looks relatively easier now," he added.

A qualifier for the 1960 Olympics, the team lost their AFC Asian Cup qualifier to Iran and Syria by identical 0-4 margin. "I am confident that the players will play here with a positive mindset. My only worry is injury to our goalkeeper Lu Kun-Chi but I am hopeful that he will recover in time for the opener."

Chinese Taipei have been slotted in Group A along side India, Afghanistan and Philippines and will begin their campaign against Philippines on April 1.

NO HIGH HOPES FOR KARGAR
Afghanistan coach Mohammed Yousuf Kargar did not fancy his team's chances and said he wants his players to gain experience from this event.

"We have a young side and I am not hopeful of making it to the second stage but this is the best opportunity to gain exposure at the continental level," he told.

"We started training a month back but that was also not possible sometimes because of heavy snowfall in capital Kabul.

"India and Chinese Taipei are the strongest teams in our group and I know nothing about Philippines but I am sure that our players will perform well in the tournament as they won't be under pressure against the more fancied rivals."