To see today's training session...

Former Queensland Roar and Newcastle Jet striker Ante Milicic notched a brace that night as the Socceroos eased past the red shirts at the WACA in a fund-raiser for the victims of the Asian tsunami.

Milicic, now 34, also had two stints in Malaysian club football with Pahang and Shazan Muda which saw him rub shoulders with a number of Indonesia's best talent.

"I had a lot of Indonesians came to play in Malaysia and they were pretty nippy, fast, liked to play a short-passing game and take players on," he tells au.fourfourtwo.com.

"They were possibly a bit poor tactically and poor finishing wise with shooting from distance. And that stereotype of not having the strongest goalkeepers in the world is fairly true, too.

"But as we saw with Persik Kediri in the 2007 ACL against Sydney FC, they [Indonesia] have some good players, don't worry about that."

Forward Budi Sudarsono was a key member of Persik's side back then. He's set to start tonight in Jakarta along with midfielder Erol Iba, who was also with the East Javan club at the time.

"And what you have to realise is that for them, there's a massive difference playing home to playing away," added Ante.

"Mentally they're not the strongest players when away and maybe when they go a goal behind. But when they're in their comfortable environment, their own hotels, their food, the humidity, harder grounds, they're a different side."

The Socceroos that night in 2005 featured, among others, Craig Moore, Lucas Neill, Jason Culina and Brett Emerton.

Apart from Moore, who'll wear the skipper's armband, and Victory talisman Archie Thompson, the green and gold will be relatively inexperienced outfit when they walk out in front of an expected 90,000 crowd in Jakarta tonight.

Milicic says after almost four completed seasons of A-League football, it's now time for the home based players to stand up – despite the short lead-in time.

"These are the games that the A-League players need to stand up and say they're now good enough," he said.

"It's a good time to show themselves. Look what Adelaide did it in the Asian Champions League and Club World Cup, now it's time for an A-League Socceroo side to do it at international level ... with what you'd have to say is short preparation."

Milicic, capped five times for the Socceroos and now player-coach at NSW Premier League club Sydney United, says the Socceroos must try play it smart in the conditions.

"Keep the ball moving, hold possession and to be patient," he said. "If you start the game at 200mph you have to see how you'll cope doing that, especially with players coming in on a Monday after a hard weekend of A-League and playing on a Wednesday.

"They have to be smart. Stretch the Indonesians and let them do a little bit of work. Physically the conditions will be hard but our boys can match them by stamping their presence and winning those big tackles in the midfield."

Coach Pim Verbeek will be in the stands for this game with assistant Graham Arnold given control of the side during the match with Henk Duut as his second in command.

"But you've still got an A-League squad with a lot of experience with the likes of Moorey [Craig] and Archie [Thompson] as the spine of the side," added Milicic, a former Sydney Olympic striker.

"With that squad of 21, there's enough there for a strong enough 11 to do a job.

"But they should not expect any favours from the referee."

To see today's training session...