Australia and the Middle Eastern country will start their tournaments on Sunday in Group B.

For Borklemans, it brings him up against an opponent he knows well.

The former fullback, who had a decorated 25-year playing career in his native Belgium, has been coaching for the past eight years.

He started off managing Dender EH in 2010, before joining the staff of Marc Wilmots with the Belgian national team.

Four years ago he was an assistant to Wilmots when the Red Devils easily defeated Ange Posetcoglou's Socceroos 2-0 in a friendly at the Stade De Sclessin.

In his playing days at Club Brugge in the late 1980s and early 90s. Borkelmans counted the likes of Frank Farina and Paul Okon as teammates.

He also played against a mullet-haired striker, by the name of Graham Arnold, who was on the books of Leige and Charleroi.

"Australia is a team that I like," Borkelmans told FTBL.

"I know a lot of players from Australia. I know the coach very well as well, I played against him in Belgium. This is a team has a lot of experience – the World Cup, two times in the Asian Cup.

"I know the mentality of Australians is very good. They are strong, they are physically good, mentally good and they believe in their country."

The Socceroos will face the Chivalrous without injured quartet Aaron Mooy, Daniel Arzani, Martin Boyle and Mathew Leckie, and without a recognised goal-scoring striker to count on.

But Borkelmans believes that will have little impact.

"No, when you have a country like Australia you have a lot of good, quality players [to choose from]," he said.

The 55-year-old was only apppointed head coach of Jordan in September last year, after he was promoted from his position as an assistant.

Borkelmans admits he has had to work his players hard to whip them into shape for the Asian Cup.

He knows how important the first match of the tournament against the Socceroos is.

"Jordan is not a country like Australia, or like China or the rest of the world," he said.

"The competition in Jordan is very low, in our four-week camp we trained three times a day in the first two weeks. Now at this moment we are physically and mentally very strong. The first game is very important and I’m improved my players physically and mentally.

"I am a happy coach at the moment. Jordan have changed a lot and I hope we can make the game for Australia very difficult. Sometimes when you have a good team you can also lose.

"I told my players there many clubs and big teams, like when you see the World Cup in Russia, there are many big countries going home [early]. I’ve instilled a lot of belief in my players. On their day, that can beat anybody.

"It’s the same with Australia also, when they play at a tournament like the World Cup and the other countries don’t play well, they can win also. You must always believe in yourself and stay positive in your skills. I only talk positively to my players."

The last time the Socceroos played Jordan was in a World Cup qualifier in Sydney in 2016, where the green and gold prevailed 5-1.

The Chivalrous are ranked a staggering 69 places below Australia, but have upset them on Middle Eastern soil twice in qualifiers in the past seven years.

Borkelmans may respect the Socceroos but is intent on springing a shock result.

"For me its very important that the players are ready for this tournament, the big tournament," the ex-defender, who played in the 1994 and 1998 World Cups for Belgium, said.

"I’ve put a lot of positive things in their hands and made them stronger and stronger every day. We will see what's happening in the game. I played in two World Cups and I know tournaments like these are so, so special.

"Especially the first game, which is important for both teams. For Jordan and for Australia. We will see what's happenng, and see if Australia is happy or if Jordan is happy afterwards."