Better known for horseback wrestling, eagle hunting and dead goat polo, Kyrgyzstan are hoping to turn heads at this month's Asian Cup football tournament.
The former Soviet republic has made significant progress since joining the Asian Football Confederation in 1994 and the outsiders warned they will be no pushovers in their debut appearance at the continent's showpiece event.
Kyrgyzstan's White Falcons face China on Monday in their opening game in the United Arab Emirates before meeting title favourites South Korea and the Philippines, but coach Aleksandr Krestinin struck a defiant tone.
"We are not here just to make up the numbers," he told AFP.
"We are serious, competitive participants and we will fight to get through to the last 16. It is a new experience for us, but the whole country is behind us."
- 'Nothing to lose' -
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