Kewell, Lucas happy with Cup opener

Australian stars Harry Kewell and Lucas Neill were both grateful the team got through their Asian Cup opener with India unscathed in their 4-0 victory on Monday.

For Liverpool star Kewell scored the second goal with a left-foot wonder strike, which followed Tim Cahill’s opener for the Socceroos.

World Cup hero Brett Holman netted in first half injury time and Everton’s Cahill added his second after the break to top off a resounding victory.

Kewell, the Galatasaray striker, said the squad was wary of underestimating India’s capabilities on the football field.

“It’s always a good way to get three points, we knew it was going to be one of the games that could kinda go either way but we knew we had to stick to our plan, and we did that. We got the early goal, and we grew in confidence from there,” Kewell said.

Neill, the Socceroos skipper, said scoring just once in the second half was the only let-down from his side.

“Yeah, a good start. It could have been a bit better in the second half, but there was always a possibility that we could have been a banana skin (a slip up),” he said.

“So a great professional attitude in the first half, broke the deadlock early in the first half, and had we played like that in the second, I think we would have created more chances and scored more goals.”

Neill, Kewell’s club team-mate in Turkey, said the Socceroos tired in the second half, dropping their intensity to only score one goal in the final 45 minutes, compared to three in the first half.

Neill added that the three points set the side up to qualify for the knockout stages.

“I think what we needed to do in the second half was keep the intensity up, keep trying to play the same as we were, quick passing, quick ball movement…and we just took an extra touch every now and again, and as a result, we lost the opportunity or closed the gap and made it a little bit harder to penetrate and find that chance (on goal),” he said.

“It’s unfortunate (our second half form), but a win’s a win and last time we played in this campaign, we started with a lucky, late draw.”

“We’ve put ourselves on the first step on a very exciting journey, now if we beat South Korea, we top the group.”