Socceroos caretaker coach Rob Baan praised the legendary winger's impressive efforts in the game after coming back from yet another lengthy injury lay-off.

Kewell has only been played off the bench for his rare appearances for Liverpool this season after suffering groin and thigh injuries in pre-season.

But he surprised fans by playing all game at the weekend against Nigeria, despite a wealth of options on the Australia bench.

"At least I think I helped Benitez a little to prove that Kewell can play 90 minutes now,” said Baan after the 1-0 win over Nigeria.

"He did a very, very good job in the first half and you could see in the second half that he needs more rhythm, but still he proved that he is a fantastic player."

Liverpool boss Rafa Benitez welcomed the chance for Kewell to prove his fitness with the Socceroos - and was grateful for the match being played in London instead of Australia.

“It could be good timing for us,” he said. “I don’t like to see a lot of players going around the world but this time around it gives our injured players time to recover."