Socceroo Jason Davidson says it wasn’t that long ago that he was a fan watching the Socceroos train, as the public turned out in their thousands on Sunday to see the national team's session.
Speaking after Sunday’s training, which doubled as the official Socceroo Fan Day, the EPL player said it was exciting to see so many fans.
Around 2500 Socceroo fans turned up at Collingwood's training based to see their heroes train.
And the Socceroo full back recalled his own experiences as a fan when he was a junior tagging along with his father, former great Socceroo Alan Davidson.
“When I was younger my Dad knew a lot of the ex players. I remember one time going into the Socceroo camp watching them train then going to the hotel and meeting them.
“I was just star-struck shaking their hands. They said ‘hey, how are you?’ and I didn’t know what to say!
“So it’s good to be back home now and give back to the Aussie supporters,” said the West Brom defender.
This is the first time the Melbourne boy has been back in town with the Socceroos which has only added to the defender’s anticipation ahead of the Asian Cup.
Davidson was part of a rigorous 90-minute session on Sunday as the Socceroos ramped up preparations for Kuwait next Friday.
The former Dutch-based Davidson is battling with Aziz Behich for that starting role down the left of the Socceroo back four.
It will be a close run thing with both players showing good form in training on Sunday.
And coach Ange Postecoglou’s message at Sunday's session, said Davidson, was one of intensity.
“His main focus was that it was a hard hit out. Today was a tough session. He wanted a lot of the boys to work hard. That was the key factor today.
“If you lose the ball or make mistakes that’s fine but the main thing was to recover and work hard.”
Despite the cooler temperatures following a heatwave in the last couple of days, Davidson said the conditions still weren’t ideal for all players.
“I wouldn’t say refreshing [conditions] but especially for the boys from England and overseas today’s still hot.
“It’s going to take us a while to get used to the weather but today was a lot easier than yesterday.”
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