Harry Kewell already has Champions League and FA Cup medals from his club career, but he knows he will never get a better chance than today’s Asian Cup final to add an international prize to his collection.
Australia face Japan in their first final at only their second Asian Cup after joining the Asian fold in 2006.
“I’m a realistic person and I think it’ll be very hard for Australia to win the World Cup,” Kewell said on Thursday. “It’s important for us to be there and take part and if we get lucky, maybe ... but this competition we have a chance.”
Photo: AFP
Kewell has been one of the key players in Australia’s march to the final. He has started every game, scored the winner after 117 minutes in the quarter-final against Iraq and began the goal glut in the 6-0 semi-final win over Uzbekistan.
It is a far cry from 2007 when Kewell took much of the criticism after Australia lost to Japan in the quarter-finals to end a far from impressive Asian Cup campaign.
“We want to really try to make amends this time around,” Kewell said. “The first one we weren’t fully prepared for it and we dealt with what came.”
Proving the critics wrong has been a familiar theme for Kewell.
Liverpool fans in particular might have been surprised that, deep into extra time against Iraq, it was Kewell making that run into the box to get on the end of Matt McKay’s cross.
An outstanding young player, Kewell was bought by Liverpool for ￡5 million (US$8 million) in 2003 after making his mark for the Leeds side that reached the Champions League semi-final in 2001.
But a succession of injuries prevented Kewell from fulfilling his undoubted talent at Anfield.
The supporters’ frustrations became such that when Kewell, who had been a shock inclusion in the starting XI, came off after 23 minutes of Liverpool’s win in the 2005 Champions League final, there were boos from some Reds fans.
In 2006, he lasted 48 minutes of the 2006 FA Cup final before limping off, and though fit for the 2007 Champions League final, he was used only as a second-half sub in Liverpool’s loss to AC Milan.
A year later, he ended his Liverpool career and moved to Galatasaray in Turkey.
Still, the injuries persisted, and Australia’s buildup to last year’s World Cup was overshadowed by worries about Kewell’s fitness.
He eventually started the second game against Ghana but was only on the field for 24 minutes before he was sent off.
In Qatar, so far, there have been no hard-luck stories and whatever happens today, Kewell can say with certainty that he made a key contribution to his team’s cause.
“It’s one of those things, you work hard, nothing comes easy in this life,” Kewell said after his winner against Iraq in the quarter-final. “Sometimes you get knocked down, you’ve got to get straight back up and take it on the chin and move forward.”
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