Australian midfielder Mark Milligan says he'll be hoping for an inspirational performance, similar to his Asian Cup debut against Thailand in 2007, when the Socceroos begin their 2015 campaign on Friday.
The host nation face Kuwait in Melbourne to kick off the 16th edition of the regional tournament which is the first to be held on Australian soil.
Milligan is expected to partner Crystal Palace and Socceroos' captain Mile Jedinak in the centre of the park, seven and a half years after making his first Asian Cup appearance as a defender against Thailand in Bangkok.
With Australia under pressure after failing to win their opening two matches of the 2007 tournament, Milligan was one of the star performers as Australia thumped the Thais 4-0 at the Rajamangala Stadium to advance to the knockout stages.
Backed by a capacity crowd on a rainy night, Thailand had a strong squad that included strikers Kiatisuk Senamuang, Sutee Suksomkit, Teerasil Dangda plus Therdsak Chaiman and Suree Sukha.
"We needed a result and Arnie [coach Graham Arnold] made a few changes and fortunately for me I got a start," Milligan told www.ffa.com.au. "We played very well that day, which we had to, especially as we were playing against the home nation."
Their first Asian Cup hadn't gone according to plan for the Socceroos who had brazenly predicted going through the tournament undefeated. They relied on a late Tim Cahill equaliser to draw with Oman in their opening game before losing 3-1 to eventual champions Iraq in their second Group A encounter.
But after riding their luck in the early stages against a confident Thai side who had taken four points from their opening two matches, the Socceroos took the lead in the 21st minute through the head of defender Michael Beauchamp. Both Beauchamp and Milligan had been unused squad members at the previous year's World Cup in Germany.
"It was a big pressure valve releasing for us, I guess. We were able to open up and play our football with a bit more confidence," Milligan said. "We ended up being quite dominant and we got our rewards for playing our fearless type of match."
Although the War Elephants had chances to equalise after the break, Australia ran away with the game late in the second half as captain Mark Viduka scored a brace and Harry Kewell made sure of it with a fourth goal.
"They were big game players and when you needed players to step up and lead and score goals and work hard and lead by example they were the ones to do so," Milligan said.
The victory saw Australia finish second in Group A behind Iraq. But they were knocked out of the tournament in their next match as they lost their quarterfinal on penalties to Japan in Hanoi after it was 1-1 at the end of extra-time.
The Socceroos made the final of the 2011 Asian Cup in Qatar and hope to go the distance in the 2015 edition. Milligan added that the Socceroos are much better prepared for Asian opposition than they were eight years ago.
"It was a bit of a shock to the system [in 2007], I guess we've learnt from that and since then we've come on in leaps and bounds through Asia."
Milligan was a 21-year-old rookie in Thailand when he played his first Asian Cup match. Now as a 29-year-old who has 33 international caps and captains A-League giants, Melbourne Victory, he'll need to be a real leader on the pitch if Australia are to win their first major footballing silverware this month.