Arnold looks to experienced duo

Socceroos coach Graham Arnold will look to his two most experienced players in Steve Corica and Kevin Muscat to play key roles against Kuwait next Wednesday night at Aussie Stadium in Sydney.

Socceroos coach Graham Arnold will look to his two most experienced players in Steve Corica and Kevin Muscat to play key roles against Kuwait next Wednesday night at Aussie Stadium in Sydney.

Arnold named an internationally inexperienced side for the match, with his entire 18-man squad made up of players from the Hyundai A-League. In a major blow, World Cup squad member Stan Lazaridis was forced to withdraw from the squad, as he is still to fully recover from the flu.

Arnold though will look to his two most experienced players in the squad, Kevin Muscat and Steve Corica to play leading roles in the all-important game that could virtually seal their spot in the AFC Asian Cup finals if they win.

Both players thought their international careers had passed them by, but Arnold will look to them to guide his young, but talented team through what is shaping as a tough game against Kuwaiti-s.

Corica last played for the Socceroos in 2001, while Muscat saw no action under Guus Hiddink after playing at the 2005 Confederations Cup in Germany.

Muscat is favourite to lead the team, although Arnold will not name his captain till Monday. Muscat is no stranger to leading the Socceroos having led the team during the 2001 Oceania World Cup qualifiers.

The most troublesome position for Arnold is in central midfield and its here where he will look to Sydney FC midfielder Steve Corica to be his lynchpin, while Muscat will play in the middle of a back three.

“Central midfield has proven the most difficult position to pick,” Arnold revealed, as the 18 players assembled in Sydney.

“I have brought back Corica to play and he will play an important role in the midfield for me.

"I think at this stage, Muscat will start in the middle of a back three. His leadership at the back is going to be critical for us.”

Despite the team-s lack of international experience, Arnold is happy with the overall squad.

"It's no secret that we are not at full strength,” he said.

“Moving into Asia, we are going to come up with this situation at various times. This is a good opportunity to see what the A-League players can do.

“Overall I am happy with the 18.”

Arnold is not going to put too many expectations on the players and will not be discussing a result with the players.

"If you start mentioning a result you put a bit too much pressure on the players," Arnold said.

"We're not talking about the result, we want them to concentrate on their jobs and what we want them to do.

“If they can do this, the result will take care of itself.”

Arnold said the three days in Melbourne were invaluable as it enabled the squad to work on how Kuwait is likely to line-up and play.