Lucas Neill will tick off a boyhood dream when he faces Argentina legend Diego Maradona on Thursday. The former West Ham United and Blackburn Rovers captain recently joined UAE club Al Jazira who take on Al Wasl in the opening Etisalat Emirates Cup game this week.
Although Maradona will not be on the pitch with Neill, the former Barcelona and Napoli star will be on the touchline coaching Al Jazira's opponents after taking the Al Wasl job in May.
Neill admits it will be a special occasion to come up against the great Maradona but insists that he is intent on making a good start in the cups competition before focusing on the bigger picture.
"It will be a boyhood dream to meet the man because I grew up watching him in the World Cups and my favourite team in the World Cup, because Australia wasn't playing, was Argentina," Neill told Sport360.
He added: "I have been told coming here that being the champion and cup holder that they want to remain the champion and the cup holder so my expectation, or my goal, is to help the team defend their titles but also there was a lot of emphasis this year placed on the Asian Champions League.
"If we benchmark Japan as Asian Cup winners, then this team has the technical ability to be equal to Japan.
"But I think we have a little bit more work to do as a team especially when you look at playing games at home and then playing games away; sometimes you have to alter your style.
"I think that this team still has a little bit to learn there, if I am being honest. I hope that I can bring some of that education and experience but often you just have to play the game to gain that experience."