Peter Velappan, general secretary of the Asian Football Confederation (AFC), said here on Saturday that five reasons have made the Asian Cup a "special" event.

    Velappan said in a press conference that he felt proud that the Asian Cup was an special festival for the Asian and Chinese soccerfans.

    "There are five reasons to make this year's Asian Cup special,"he said.

    "Firstly, it is the first time for the Asian Cup to be held in China, the country with the largest population.

    "Secondly, it is the first time for the Asian Cup to have 16 teams. It's a precious opportunity to more teams to compete in the tournament.

    "Thirdly, we have the largest number this time of broadcasters.More countries will have the chance to watch the games."

    He added that the other reason is that media family to cover the China Asian Cup was also the largest.

    "The last reason is that we are still fresh from South Korea and Japan's success in the 2002 World Cup," he said. "Now it's theturn for China to do better in another football festival for Asia."