Kewell wants Singapore fling

Match hungry Harry Kewell is aiming to make a shock appearance for the Socceroos as the sole luminary in a line up of A-League rookies in the international against Singapore at the tiny nation's National Stadium on March 22.

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• Verbeek turns to youth
• No risks - yet - for Singapore-bound Verbeek
• Kewell eager for Aussie duty
• Bridge gets Socceroos call
• Chipperfield can't foot it
• Quartet vie for vacant berth
• Socceroos to play Singapore

Frozen out at Liverpool, Kewell has asked boss Rafa Benitez for a release to join coach Pim Verbeek - and his gallery of saplings - in camp in Singapore next week in a bid to tweak his fitness for the World Cup qualifier against China in Kunming.

In a stunning sign of the times for the most celebrated Australian export of the past decade, Kewell will learn on Friday whether Benitez is willing to allow him to play in a match where he would rub shoulders with total strangers like Perth Glory’s Nikita Rukavytsya, Newcastle kid James Holland, Queensland Roar rookie Michael Zullo and Adelaide’s Bruce Djite.

It’s likely that if Benitez gives Kewell the thumbs down, the result will be him also missing out against China on March 26 because of lingering concerns over his match fitness.

It’s believed Verbeek wants to give Kewell - who wasn’t picked against Qatar last month - a 45-minure run-out to help him prepare to scale what could prove a great wall of China should the Socceroos take their opponents lightly in the smog soup and high altitude of Kunming.

Kewell would be likely to get another 45 minutes against the Chinese.

He didn’t travel to Milan as Liverpool eased through to the final eight of the UEFA Champions League with a 1-0 second leg win over 10-man Inter MIlan - that sealed a 3-0 aggregate success.

And he hasn’t even made the bench since coming on as a substitute during Liverpool’s embarrassing FA Cup exit against Barnsley in mid-February.

Kewell has made only 15 appearances this season and after nearly five years of injuries, false dawns, surgical interventions and sheer bad luck, he is heading for a parting of the ways with his boyhood idols with his contract almost up.

The emergence of Dutch super-kid Ryan Babel appears to have sealed his fate and now Kewell just wants to play - against anybody - to try and recapture lost confidence and cohesion.

Verbeek may name a provisional squad of up to 30 players as early as Friday for the China duel, with only five expected to come from the A-League.

The squad will be trimmed to 23, and finally 18 closer to the main event, in keeping with Verbeek’s modus operandi in the build up to the 3-0 win over Qatar at the Telstra Dome.

The European heavy hitters have been mobilised with the obvious exception of Newcastle’s Mark Viduka, who will meet Verbeek in April, and could make a shock return in June when Australia face Iraq (twice), Qatar and China again.

Indications are that Nicky Carle, whose Bristol City side are on the cusp of winning promotion to the Premier League, could be left out again.

The former A-League Player of the Year left his box of tricks at home when Socceroos assistant Henk Duut saw him recently in the Championship clash against Leicester.

But the news is better for Foxes defender Patrick Kisnorbo who impressed Duut in the recent clash against Preston and will be recalled after falling sharply out of favour during last July’s ill-fated Asian Cup campaign.

It’s possible Kisnorbo could even pip main rival Michael Beauchamp, who is also back in the mix after missing out against Qatar, in the race to partner skipper Lucas Neill at the heart of the defence against China.

Derby County’s Mile Sterjovski, who was given a leave pass against Qatar because he was in the midst of his move to England, will also resurface in Verbeek’s preliminary squad but Torino’s Vince Grella again misses out - this time with a knee injury.

It’s shaping as an taxing exercise for the foreign legionnaires who are booked on 12-hour flights from Europe to Singapore, where they face three-hour layovers, before a four-hour onward journey into Kunming - making the trek to China almost as taxing a trip as coming to Australia itself.

China, meanwhile, have been in camp since March 1 and play their final warm-up against Thailand in Kunming on Saturday.

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