Verbeek Warms To Kewell Invitation As Socceroos Aim For Qualifier
The Age
Friday March 7, 2008
HARRY Kewell may be frozen out at Liverpool, but Socceroos coach Pim Verbeek is warming to the prospect of inviting him back into the fold for this month's World Cup qualifier against China in Kunming.
Kewell's days at Anfield seem increasingly numbered, but surprisingly Verbeek is unconcerned about his lack of first team football as he finalises his squad for the tricky trip to high altitude in south-west China on March 26. Verbeek didn't include Kewell in his squad for last month's World Cup opener against Qatar, but when asked yesterday whether he was worried that the Liverpool winger still hadn't broken back into the first team, he replied: "No, I'm not worried. Harry is playing in every second reserve team game, so he is playing more than he did a few months ago."Second team football at Liverpool is still a higher standard than the A-League." Pressed on whether Kewell, who has publicly expressed his desire for an international recall, was therefore in his plans for the China game, Verbeek added: "I am considering that." Despite the encouraging start to the campaign against Qatar, Verbeek admits the altitude (1900 metres) and smog of Kunming will make the China match a far tougher proposition. While he confirmed he would again lean almost exclusively towards European-based players for the match, Verbeek hinted those players with the best aerobic capacity were the ones most likely to make the starting 11. On that basis, Kewell's best hope seems to be a place on the bench, but Mark Viduka - who is also struggling to break into the first team at Newcastle United - won't be required at all. "I have made an appointment to see Mark in April, but we don't need him for a game like this," Verbeek said. However three players not selected against Qatar - Vince Grella, Nicky Carle and Mile Sterjovski - have zoomed back into calculations. Significantly, both Carle and Sterjovski have a track record of adapting well to Asian conditions. The altitude factor, though, makes the game in Kunming unchartered territory for virtually all of the Socceroos, although Verbeek has some knowledge of the difficulties after taking his previous team, South Korea, to the Yemenese capital, Sana'a, last year. "It will be difficult for sure, we will have to play with our brain and not our heart," he said. China, meantime, has been acclimatising in Kunming for almost a week, and will play a friendly game against Thailand to fine-tune its preparations.
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