Harry Kewell says his decision to join Melbourne Heart was not motivated by a desire to play for Australia at the 2014 World Cup.
Harry Kewell says his decision to join Melbourne Heart was not motivated by a desire to play for Australia at the 2014 World Cup.
Kewell, 34, has played just three matches during a temporary stay at Qatari side Al-Gharafa since leaving Melbourne Victory in 2012, having failed to secure a deal at an English or Australian club last season.
He signed for Melbourne Heart in June, and could yet force his way into Holger Osieck’s Socceroos squad if he impresses throughout the 2013/14 A-League campaign.
However, speaking at his official unveiling on Wednesday, the former Leeds, Liverpool and Galatasaray man claimed earning a place on the plane to Brazil next year was a low priority.
“To play good football for Melbourne Heart, I think that’s first and foremost,” Kewell said regarding his objectives for the season ahead.
“Anything beyond that is a bonus. First priority is Melbourne Heart and that’s what I’m here for.”
Having arrived in Melbourne to great fanfare in 2011, Kewell left Victory under something of a cloud after struggling to impress on the pitch under first Mehmet Durakovic and then Jim Magilton.
Hopeful of securing a contract with an English Premier League club, Kewell instead found himself in limbo, something the attacking midfielder – who has struggled with injuries throughout his career – is no stranger to.
“It is difficult,” he said.
“It’s not nice. As a player, we want to play week in, week out. But sometimes it doesn’t fall that way, sometimes you have to take a back step and you have to look at the situation and you have to analyse where you’re at in your career.
“If I could have signed straight away for a club I would have done but it wasn’t the right moment for me. This is, for me, the right moment to get back into it.”
Kewell said his time out of the game has allowed him to recharge his batteries, and, despite spending more than a year without a club, claimed he never doubted his ability to revive his career.
“I got to see other things, do other things, get my mind and body prepared, because I knew I’d always get back.”
