Kewell fit and “up for” German battle

Harry Kewell declared on Thursday he was ready to play a full match for Australia against Germany and was “up for it” at the World Cup.

The Socceroos talisman, who has only played a few minutes this year for Turkish club Galatasaray because of a groin injury, said he was “100 percent” ready for Australia’s opening game against the three-time world champions in Durban.

The former Liverpool and Leeds United forward said it was now up to coach Pim Verbeek to allow him to start as the lone striker against the Germans.

“I am happy with the way I am travelling, I am very happy with the way things are going,” Kewell told reporters at team training here late on Thursday.

“I can’t make his (Verbeek’s) mind up for him, he’s the one who has the final decision on who plays and what happens.

“Look, all I can be is 100 percent ready the same as any other player.”

Kewell, 31, whose equalising goal against Croatia put Australia into the second round of the last World Cup in Germany, was in a fighting mood in the countdown to perhaps Australia’s greatest big-match occasion.

“We’re sharp. We’re fit, we’re strong, we’re up for it,” said Kewell, who has scored some important goals for his country among his 13 in 45 internationals.

“We’ve come a long way, we’ve gone the route of qualifying properly this time (through Asia), which has been fantastic.

“The players have done all the hard work and it’s kind of the fun part now to go out and show the world what we are capable of doing.”

Kewell, who hasn’t played for his country since last November’s Asian Cup qualifier in Oman, said it was now down to business for the Socceroos against the most consistent team in World Cup history.

“We are all excited and we will be watching the opening match tomorrow, but as soon as that’s done and dusted it’s down to business,” he said.

“It’s country versus country now and that’s where you have to step up and show what you’re worth.

“It’s important to get off to a flyer at the World Cup, to get three points.

“Let’s face it, we are probably hitting the hardest team in the tournament to come up against, especially first off the bat.

“We all know what Germany is capable of doing at a World Cup, but it’s a World Cup and anything can happen.

“People are a lot more wary now of the players we have, but as a team we’re still not that well known out there, but I am quite sure now a lot more teams are focused in what we are capable of doing.”