BRETT EMERTON and Harry Kewell have finally been cleared to play in the season opener, and Sydney FC's new marquee star admits he is as excited about playing at Etihad Stadium on Saturday week as he has been about any other match in his career.

After more than a month of fevered speculation, the Socceroos coach Holger Osieck yesterday took the sting out of a looming club-versus-country confrontation by omitting both players from his 19-man squad for the international double-header - a warm-up match against Malaysia and a World Cup qualifier against Oman - that clashes with the first round of the A-League season.

Match up ... Harry Kewell, left will face Socceroo teammate Brett Emerton in the A-League opener. Credit:Steve Christo

Emerton and Kewell (Melbourne Victory) will instead give the new season a huge kick-start by playing at Etihad Stadium in a match now expected to draw a crowd of about 40,000.

Osieck justified the decision on technical grounds, vehemently rejecting suggestions he might have bowed to pressure from Football Federation Australia. ''I can assure you I am the master of my own decisions,'' he said. ''It's written down in my contract, and I can always refer to that. I don't need a lawyer - I'm capable of defending my position myself.''