Indonesia, Thailand, Vietnam and Malaysia are joint-hosting Asia's premier football tournament, with Bangkok selected for the opening ceremony and opening game on July 7.

The two semifinals will take place in Hanoi and Kuala Lumpur with the final in the Indonesian capital on July 29.

"Our decision reflects the strengths and the wishes of the respective national associations," said AFC president Mohamed bin Hammam.

He said the decision on who hosted what was based "on the criteria set by the AFC regarding the commitment of the national associations and their respective governments with regard to the competition requirements".

"This includes infrastructure, the addressing of security measures, the commitment to promote the event, and the protection of commercial rights."

The Asian Cup has never before been hosted by four countries and bin Hammam earlier this year admitted to AFP he was concerned about costs and logisitical problems.

"It is proving very difficult for us. We have to have four organising committees, four media centres and there are also financial considerations," he said in January.

"It was my mistake. If we had a choice we definitely wouldn't do it again."

In announcing the decision Friday, he warned all four countries that they must be fully focused on the task ahead.

"Our team here at AFC are fully committed to delivering what we hope will be AFC's most successful competition to date," he said.

"But it is only with the host associations' dedication and commitment 24 hours a day, from today, that this will be achieved.

"We are putting great trust into these national associations. I am sure they will deliver."

Dali Taher, a member of the executive committee from the Indonesian Football Association in charge of preparing Indonesia's bid, hailed the decision and said the government was ready to host its matches properly.

"This is a significant turning point for the life of our national soccer," he told AFP.

He said the more than 100,000-seat Bung Karno or Senayan stadium in Jakarta was being prepared for the final.

The AFC had announced in 2003 that the 2007 competition would be held in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) region after adopting a rotation policy for hosting the Cup, similar to world football's governing body FIFA.

It will be the first time that ASEAN has held the competition since 1984, when Singapore played host.

Sixteen teams will compete for the Cup with qualification rounds already under way. The teams are divided into six groups of four with the top two from each progressing to the finals.

The next round of qualifying takes place on August 16 but without Lebanon, which pulled out of the competition this week blaming Israel's "barbaric attack" on the country.

Japan, who have won the Asian Cup three times, are the defending champions having beaten China 3-1 in a bad-tempered final in Beijing in 2004.

But their work is cut out this year following Australia's defection from Oceania to the AFC, which has allowed them to compete in the Asian Cup for the first time.

Following their second-round heroics at the World Cup in Germany, the Socceroos go into this month's qualifying round as Asia's highest-ranked team in the world at 33. Japan have slumped to 49 and South Korea to 56.