Darren Mara, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
Launching their first major Asian soccer foray, the Australian Socceroos have set for themselves a few ambitious targets for the upcoming Asian Cup campaign. Chief among them: conquest and intimidation.
Coach Graham Arnold has selected his strongest possible squad of 23 for the regional showpiece, drawing on the Socceroos' deep pool of European-based players. With mild exception, the Asian newcomer's lineup appears injury-free.
""I want to leave a massive legacy straight away on Asia where we go in there and perform well and we are successful,"" he told reporters at a media conference early this month.
""That looking forward to our World Cup qualifying campaign and 2010 that we really leave a legacy on those Asian nations of, whether it's fear, to come up and play against Australia.""
And the legacy Arnold speaks of seems to be well under construction, with most of Australia's heavyweights making themselves available for the Asian Cup.
Although the Socceroos' squad seemed to suffer heavy-leg syndrome during its warm-up match against Singapore on Saturday -- the result of a grueling pre-competition training regime -- the team still pumped out three goals to nil.
One of the scorers in the friendly, left-foot specialist Harry Kewell, will, having made his long-awaited return for Liverpool during the recent Champions League final against AC Milan, be overflowing with a year's worth of sideline frustrations come the Socceroos' first match against Oman.
Prior to injury, Kewell's last appearance for his country was in its two-all draw with Croatia in last year's World Cup, when he scored the decisive goal to send the Socceroos through to the knockout round of the global showpiece.
It has been announced by Arnold that instead of playing Kewell in his customary midfield position, the Sydney-born star will instead play up front behind Mark Viduka to augment the Socceroos' offensive thrust and proficiency.
Confident in its ability to dominate the other Asian teams through offense, Australia has named only six defenders -- including West Ham's Lucas Neil and Blackburn's Brett Emerton -- in its squad, meaning stalwart striker Viduka, fresh from hot form with Middlesbrough that saw him signed to Newcastle United, will be heavily relied upon to hold the ball up front and distribute to the team's attacking midfielders and his striking partner, Kewell.
Here, Tim Cahill, the Everton midfielder who has been sidelined since breaking a bone in his foot in March, will play an integral role in dwelling around the fringes of the goal box and providing Viduka with the runs he needs. Cahill's management has expressed near certainty that he'll be fully fit for the cup. Cahill scored two late goals against Japan in the group stages of last year's World Cup.
""I love playing for Australia and realistically the Asian Cup offers us the chance of winning some silverware,"" Cahill said previously. ""We are quietly confident but we won't be showing any complacency. We have great respect for all the other teams in the competition.""
Placed in Group A alongside Iraq, Oman and joint-host Thailand, Australia's initial games may well lack the intensity that has accompanied some of its recent high-quality fixtures.
Though come the quarterfinals, potential matches against fellow Asian heavyweights South Korea, Iran and Japan could provide the big-match climate thousands of fans will be paying to see.
With a pubescent domestic league still chiseling its way into the Australian football landscape, anything but success at the Asian Cup will be seen as a failure for Football Federation Australia.
