Overseas stars start arriving in Melbourne

The first of Pim Verbeek’s overseas stars have arrived in Melbourne ahead of Wednesday’s World Cup qualifier against Qatar at the Telstra Dome.

The first of Pim Verbeek-s overseas stars have arrived in Melbourne ahead of Wednesday-s World Cup qualifier against Qatar at the Telstra Dome.

Lucas Neill, David Carney, Josh Kennedy and Scott McDonald, touched down earlier this morning, looking fresh after flying first class with the team sponsor Qantas and keen to get down to business.

All four along with Luke Wilkshire, who arrived on Sunday night, will train with Pim Verbeek for the first time this afternoon, with a lot interest around McDonald and Kennedy in particular, as to whether the former Joeys teammates might be the starting strikers. Both players scored on the weekend; will be full of confidence and eager to grab their chance in the national team.

All five were in good spirits after touching down, having flown first class, which allowed to get a good sleep and receiving excellent service from the Qantas staff with the special program that the FFA medical staff had set for them during the flight, to minimize the effects of jet-lag.

Tim Cahill, Brett Emerton, Mark Bresciano, Carl Valeri, Jason Culina and Brett Holman all arrive later this evening, while Mark Schwarzer will be the last to arrive on Tuesday morning.

The FFA also confirmed that Mark Milligan has left the squad after suffering a broken nose in the training game against Melbourne Victory on Saturday. Joel Griffiths has remained with the squad and is still getting treatment from medical staff after feeling his hamstring also during the training match.

Verbeek will name his final 18-man squad on Tuesday.

There is a limited number of restricted view seats available for the match, with the match almost certain to be a sell out. For details, visit www.ticketmaster.com.au