Iran in Category A for Asian Cup

Kuala Lumpur, Dec 4, IRNA - A total of 42 countries, including automatic qualifiers--hosts China and defending champions Japan-- have confirmed their participation in the 2004 Asian Cup football tournament. 
The draw for the tournament is scheduled in Beijing on Saturday, according to the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) statement on Wednesday. 
Iran is placed among the top seeded teams by the AFC. Apart from Iran, the top seeded teams in Category A are South Korea, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Iraq, United Arab Emirates and Uzbekistan,followed by the Category B teams--Kuwait, Thailand, Bahrain, Indonesia, Lebanon, Oman and Syria. 
The Malaysian team has been placed in Group C in the same ranks as Turkemenistan, Vietnam, Tajikistan, Yemen, Jordan and Palestine. 
There are 19 teams in Category D but only seven will qualify from this group for the qualifying rounds. 
The teams are Singapore, India, Laos, Myanmar, Hong Kong, Kyrgyzstan, Maldives, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Brunei, Pakistan, Macau, Guam, Taiwan, Mongolia, Bhutan, North Korea and East Timor.