“It was a special game for me. A lot of my family and friends were here – probably 40 or 50 of them,” explained the Dubbo-raised defender now playing on the fringes of first team football at Fulham.

“I haven't seen many of them for a long time, so to get that win and get that goal...

“My mum's always emotional. A lot of friends and stuff were pretty emotional tonight. It was a special moment, especially being in England now and not seeing them,” added the former Victory defender.

Leijer also made a beeline for a friend in the crowd from Dubbo after the players had done a lap of honour following their 2-0 win.

“I gave him my shirt” revealed Leijer. I don't know if you watch Rove, but Archie [Thompson] answered the question, 'who would you turn gay for?' and he said my mate!"

As for the game, the defender echoed the comments made by Arnold about the "Asianisation" of the Olyroos: “I think we've learned a lot over the last 13, 14 games.

"Arnie learned a lot himself going to the Asian Cup and he's rubbed it off on us. And players like Millsy [captain Mark Milligan] he knows as well and know we all know what to expect.

“We just put up with it [the play-acting]. And we have to be smart as well. And we showed that. They try to put you off your game – Arnie said that before the game. We knew it'd happen and a draw would've been enough for them."

He added: “Hopefully we can stand tall in Korea on Wednesday night and get the job done again.

"The boys are showing a lot of maturity now - but it means nothing if we don't qualify.”