Asian Cup 2015: Mathew Leckie says ‘switch has been flicked’ as excitement builds for Socceroos

SOCCEROOS forward Mathew Leckie says the switch has been flicked on the Asian Cup hype, four days ahead of their Group A opener against Kuwait.

MELBOURNE, AUSTRALIA - JANUARY 03: Mathew Leckie of Australia poses during an Australian Socceroos headshot session at the InterContinental Hotel, on January 3, 2015 in Melbourne, Australia. (Photo by Robert Cianflone/Getty Images)

SOCCEROOS forward Mathew Leckie says the switch has been flicked on the Asian Cup hype.

The Aussie team moved away from their pre-camp training base at Olympic Park on Monday and trained for the first time at South Melbourne’s Lakeside Stadium, an official Asian Cup training venue.

Leckie said the excitement for the tournament was building, particularly as the opening clash with Kuwait at AAMI Park is now just four days away.

“Today we saw people walking around with the clothes on for the Asian Cup and there’s a few signs up,” Leckie said.

“I’ve been here for nearly a week now and it’s been pretty much just every day training, not much hype going on.

“But just seeing that it was a bit of a switch flicked to understand that we are only four days away.”

Leckie said Monday’s training session was an easier one after a solid weekend on the track.

“The last two days have been tough so we took the foot off the pedal a bit, played a bit of football tennis to keep us going,” he said.

“From now until the game against Kuwait we’ll just be looking at really nailing the tactics side of things so we’re ready for that first game.”

With such a prolonged build-up to the first match, Leckie said it was important not to let home-country expectation weigh the team down.

“With the Asian Cup being in Australia, and the expectations on everyone, we know we need to get off to a good start,” he said.

Matthew Leckie says excitement is building in the Socceroos camp.

“But we’re professionals, we know how it feels to have pressure. We’ve been working hard and I guess in the next couple of days we’re really going to look at what we want to do in that game against Kuwait.

“When we start the national anthem (on Friday) with the whole nation behind us, we’ll all be so motivated that we won’t be worried about what’s been said off the park, we’ll just be worried about doing our best to get a result.”

Originally published as Asian Cup 2015: Mathew Leckie says ‘switch has been flicked’ as excitement builds for Socceroos