With the Qantas Socceroos stepping up their preparations for their Asian Football Confederation (AFC) Asian Cup opener against Oman on Jul 8, Australia’s Brett Emerton, who was among the second batch of players that included Premiership stars Harry Kewell, Lucas Neill and Mark Viduka to arrive in Singapore on Jun 24, took time off from training to speak to reporters regarding his country’s maiden foray into Asia’s most prestigious competition. UrbanWire was there to hear the Blackburn left-back share his thoughts and comments on Australia’s hopes and chances in the AFC Asian Cup.

UrbanWire: How are you and the team coping with the humid weather conditions since you’ve arrived here in Singapore?

Brett: We arrived a couple of days ago and it’s very warm out there and it will take a little bit of time to adjust but we’re used to these warm conditions, so I’m sure we’ll be ok.

UW: What’s the feeling among the squad now that it’s pretty much full strength?

BE: Yeah, we’re very excited going into the competition and we’re glad to be here and to be part of such a great competition. But it’s going to be tough for us and there are some great teams involved so we’re going to be at our very best if we’re going to have a chance of winning it.

UW: How do you compare the preparations this time when you were gearing up for the World Cup at this stage last year in Holland?

BE: I think we’re going into this competition (AFC Asian Cup) with roughly the same sort of build up last year where we will work very hard in training acclimatise to the conditions as we did at the World Cup last year. We were one of the fittest teams at the competition last year and that’s what we’re hoping to achieve again this time around.

UW: How’s the new group (Kewell, Viduka, Neill, Emerton and Bresciano) doing across the other side of the field?

BE: Yeah, good. As I said, we (the second batch) arrived only a few days ago and we’re taking some time to adjust. But physically, everyone’s in decent shape so it shouldn’t take us too long before we’re back to full fitness.

UW: Does it surprise you that everyone’s in such good nick considering that you’ve all just come off pre-season?

BE: We didn’t really have that much time off to be honest. I myself personally played in the friendly game against Uruguay only three weeks ago, so I only got about three weeks rest. In that space of time, you can’t lose too much fitness which is a good thing because these are very testing conditions and it’s very tough, even for the fittest of players.

UW: And what have you been doing during the last few weeks?

BE: Not a great deal. I have been spending time back at home with my family in Sydney and it’s been a long hard season so I took the 3 weeks to have a complete rest and help my body recover.

UW: What are your thoughts on Australia being tagged as favourites for the AFC Asian Cup?

BE: I don’t know whether being favourites is a good thing or not, but there are some very talented teams and we’re playing in difficult conditions. So we’re going to have to be at our very best and we’ll be giving 100 percent to try win it.

UW: Have you done much homework yet on the opposition?

BE: Not as yet, but I’m sure Graham (Arnold) and the rest of the coaching staff are looking at the team very carefully and I’m sure as the games draw nearer, then we’ll sit down and have a look at what we’re up against have a look at their strengths and weaknesses and see what is the best way we can possibly win this matches.

UW: Can you reveal new names in the Socceroos squad whom you feel have stood out from the rest of the new boys?

BE: Erm..(laughing) Carl Valeri has been a standout for me and he’s performed very well, so he’s one I think people should watch out for.