Kengo Nakamura, a Kawasaki Frontale midfielder who is younger and slightly smaller than Shunsuke, will join him in orchestrating set pieces which will be crucial on the rough pitch in Hanoi, the site of Group B.

"We'd better have two kickers to menace our opponents. The set play is important because it can turn the tide with just one blow," said Kengo, 26, who resembles 29-year-old Shunsuke with a long face and a slender frame.

Kengo, in his fifth year at Kawasaki, has scored one goal in six international matches.

He was capped for the first time after Ivica Osim took over from Brazilian legend Zico as coach following Japan's winless exit from the World Cup in Germany last year.

Left-footed Shunsuke and right-footed Kengo have been practicing free kicks together some 20 metres out during's Japan's training camp before leaving for Vietnam.

"Set plays are as important in the last Asian Cup as Europe," said Shunsuke, angling for a third straight Asian Cup winners medal.

"I have a lot of ideas. For example, I may pretend to kick on goal but flick the ball off Kengo's foot for another to kick," said the former Reggina player, whose deadball kicking helped Celtic clinch the Scottish Premiership title.

It was the first time that Osim had his squad practice set pieces, with the Bosnian, who led the former Yugoslavia to the 1990 World Cup quarter-finals, knowing he will need all the tricks he can conjure up to win the title.

"It will be hard to play football by moving the ball around with one-touches in Hanoi," he said.

"Therefore, we need to be able to do it both ways -- attack on combination plays either from a deadball situation or through one-touches.

"We may be trying more different things when the time gets near."

He said he was most concerned about the hot and humid weather in the rainy season in Vietnam, one of the Asian Cup co-hosts who also include Indonesia, Malaysia and Thailand.

"It's worth weighing who can run and who cannot. I may take into account the temperature on the day in deciding the starting line-up," Osim said.

Japan play Asian Games champions Qatar on July 9 in their opener. Gulf Cup champions United Arab Emirates and hosts Vietnam are also in their group.