HARRY Kewell and Brett Emerton going head-to-head has returned the mojo to the A-League.

It has already been written off as a rotting carcass by doomsdayers.

Yesterday's announcement Emerton had been snared by Sydney FC was another reason why version seven of the league now can rival the best in Asia - Japan's J-league and the K-League in Korea.

Forget the stench of Australia losing the 2022 FIFA World Cup bid to Qatar, the pair will help re-ignite the passion for the game here.

"I've had eight fantastic years at Blackburn but Sydney has given me the opportunity to go home. I kept saying I wanted to come home to play in the A-League and to do so in good shape," Emerton said last night.

"Don't get me wrong, the Premier League is a fabulous place to be and I've enjoyed every minute of it. But I needed something fresh, something different, something exciting - and doing this means I can contribute in Australia.

"It's just ironic that Harry and I are coming back together - it says something about where the league is at."

The euphoria when John Aloisi scored the penalty that earned a World Cup berth for the first time in 32 years in 2005 - the A-League was four months old when the Socceroos beat Uruguay - is coming back.

If Kewell and Emerton - in an impressive line-up for this A-League - do not generate much more interest than the past six seasons, the game may as well pull down the nets, empty the lockers and call it quits.

Surely, Socceroos Emerton, Kewell, Adelaide United's Dario Vidosic, Jon McKain, with such imports as the Reds' Andy Slory and Roar's Thomas Broich will give Federation Australia chief executive Ben Buckley bargaining power when he presents the case for new TV rights due before the current deal ends in 2013.

While the Kewell affair was dragging on until the big H on Saturday finally was announced as Melbourne Victory's latest addition for the next three years, Emerton was a bolter.

The midfielder is set to make his farewell appearance for Blackburn Rovers against Tim Cahill's Everton on Saturday at Ewood Park.

AdelaideNow endorsed Emerton's return to Australia in the live chat with Premier League specialist, ex-Tottenham Hotspur and Bournemouth defender Neil Young yesterday.

The poll asking if Emerton in the A-League was good, bad or ugly did not receive any negative feedback, with fans revealing they agreed 100 per cent with the Socceroo midfielder being great for the local game.

Young, senior coach and junior football director of Cumberland United, believes Emerton still is good enough to see out the 12 months remaining on his Rovers' contract.

"I think it's too early for him to come back, he should still be in the Premier League," Young said. "But it's good for the game here.