Qantas Socceroos to make Asian statement

The Qantas Socceroos will be out to make a statement about their desire to perform well in the Asian Cup when they take on Oman at Etihad Stadium in Melbourne on Wednesday night.

The Qantas Socceroos will be out to make a statement about their desire to perform well in the Asian Cup when they take on Oman at Etihad Stadium in Melbourne on Wednesday night.

Captain Lucas Neill said the players felt they had not put their best foot forward in either the 2007 Asian Cup, or the qualifiers for the 2011 tournament, and that it was time to make a statement about the regard they held Asia's continental championship.

"We haven't performed to ability (in the Asian Cup to date) and that is something we have to put right," Neill said. "We haven't performed and they have so momentum so they will be going into this game confident and we have a lot of respect for them."

Neill said that the Asian Cup campaign in 2007, which started with a 1-1 draw against Oman and ended with Australia knocked out in the quarter-finals, was a lesson in not underestimating the quality of the opposition.

"The public and the media have got to start taking these teams seriously," he said. "We have and we always have - there are no easy games and if you look at the table at the moment they have more points than us which is a true reflection of how the group is."

"But our preparation has been good, the boys are in great spirits and the lessons we learnt in the Asian Cup in Bangkok is something we take into games like this to make sure that from the first whistle we are ready."

Having spent three years playing Asian opposition in either Asian Cup or World Cup qualifiers, Neill said the players were well aware of the importance of starting strongly and dictating the tempo of matches.

"We have had a lot of experience now with Asian teams," he said. "We have to make sure we start well, make sure we score the first goal and like we have of late keep clean sheets."

While the main focus on Wednesday is getting back on track to qualify for the 2011 tournament in Qatar, Neill admitted that these types of matches were crucial in terms of pressing selection for the final 23-man squad for next year's FIFA World Cup in South Africa.

"That is always in the back of everyone's mind. Every game we play for Australia there are 30-plus players trying to make a squad of 23," he said,

"The focus is to qualify for the Asian Cup but always we have to send a message to the manager that we want to be in the squad for as long as we can and with a big tournament coming up (in South Africa) it's important to perform and take the chance we get and that goes for every single player."