Kewell replaced Mark Bresciano six minutes after the hour mark for his first international appearance since Australia's 2-2 draw with Croatia at last year's FIFA World Cup.

Kewell scored once and set up Mark Viduka's second as the Socceroos overran the home side with a strong second-half performance.

"I'm delighted for Harry. I gave him the captain's armband for the last couple of minutes as a reward for what he's been through," said Arnold.

"He was fantastic when he came on because he gives you an added dimension. Harry came in more central from outside on the wing to be closer to Viduka and I think it's a role that suits him because he's a natural goalscorer."

Kewell has been working his way back to fitness after a disappointing year for the Liverpool winger that has been blighted by injury and his return to form is a major boost for the Socceroos just over a week before they make their debut in the AFC Asian Cup.

"He trained for an hour and a half this morning because we need to get him fit. He was out in the heat and the rain, working with the ball on his shooting and finishing, and he's come on in the game for half-an-hour and done that," added Arnold.

"This is a massive tournament that we're going into with the results that we want. But Harry's been out for a really long time, he had five operations after the World Cup and the tournament is also about getting Harry Kewell back to his best as well."

The Socceroos have been training in Singapore for the past week to acclimatise to the tropical conditions that they can expect in South East Asia during the AFC Asian Cup and Arnold felt that Saturday's friendly was a good test for his side, as they gear up for their opener against Oman in Bangkok on July 8.

Australia are making their maiden appearance in the AFC Asian Cup after switching from the Oceania Football Confederation at the start of 2006.

"It was great to get the cobwebs out and players are starting to get acclimatised to the climate," said Arnold.

"They were saying after the game that they felt a lot better in the second half then they did in the first, which is a great sign.

"We've worked very hard to get our fitness levels up and it was a great match to play against Singapore who really tested us and were very unlucky because they could easily have led 2-0 in the first half.

"But we have a lot of work to do because I'm pretty much a perfectionist. I felt that our attacking play was fantastic but we've got some work to do in defence and I wasn't happy on that side.

"The match tonight shows you how difficult Asia is for Australia. People back at home think moving in to Asia is easy but can you imagine what would have happened if we had just turned up tonight without training here for 10 days before the game?"