“When I looked at the last time we played in the World Cup qualifiers we ended up in the same group as Saudi Arabia, Iran, Iraq and Thailand so it’s a bit easier but not much because we’ve Saudi Arabia and Korea Republic, who are both strong teams,” said Withe. “It’ll be tough.”

The Indonesians will at least have the backing of the notoriously partisan home support at the intimidating Gelora Bungkarno Stadium – commonly known as the Senayan Stadium – and the coach is banking on the crowd pushing the team towards the knockout phase.

“Senayan will be full, we know that, and hopefully we can drum up enough support from the fans,” said Withe.

“I said at the Tiger Cup that the Senayan has always brought a fear factor for our players and we’re working on the fans supporting us because if we can get that then who knows.

“We realise that we’re playing at home and I emphasised to the federation that it’s important that we prepare the team with the right frame of mind, so they’re going to stop the league to give us enough time to prepare properly.”

Saudi Arabia coach Marcos Paqueta, meanwhile, sees his team’s opening game against fellow World Cup qualifiers Korea Republic as vital to the three-time champions’ hopes of progressing.

“It’s not bad,” said the Brazilian. “Of course, I know Bahrain and Korea is a tough team and we must prepare well for that game because that game will be key for qualifying for the next round.”

Paqueta coached the Saudis at the World Cup finals during the summer and believes his team has built on their performance in Germany despite the loss of key players such as Sami Al Jaber and Mohammed Al Daeyea due to retirement.

“The federation in Saudi Arabia has put their trust in me and we have a plan to work together for four years,” he said. “The key is the young players, they have improved so much and they are very professional. They like to work hard.

“They know what to do in the field and outside the field and from the start of this season everything has gone well. It’s very important because things are changing for Saudi football.

“Now there are more young players coming through like Yasser Qahtani, Hamad Al Montashari and Saleh Bashir and with those payers and others, I think Saudi Arabian football has a big chance.

“Things have improved since the World Cup. We have a group now that has an average age of 25 years, only two or three players are over that age and it’s going well.”