Socceroos help raise funds for flood victims

Australia will wear specially-made shirts during the warm-up ahead of this afternoon's Asian Cup game against South Korea in Doha to help raise funds for victims of the devastating floods in Queensland.

The shirts will carry the slogan 'Australia Flood Relief Appeal - Donate now' along with the address of the appeal website.

They will also wear black armbands as a mark of respect for those who have lost their lives in the disaster, while the game will be preceded by a minute's silence at Al Gharafa Stadium.

"Australian people have unfortunately died, a lot of people are missing. The floods are never-ending and a lot of people are losing their houses, this is a concern for the Australian team," said captain Lucas Neill.

"Our thoughts and wishes are with the families and people back home in Australia. We're hoping we can do them proud over here. I would like to give special mention and thanks to the AFC who have gracefully allowed us to wear a different shirt in the warm-up, creating awareness as to where you can donate money to an appeal. The appeal is www.qld.gov.au/floods.

"We're hoping people all over the world can realise that football is not the biggest thing in the world, people's lives are more important and people losing their families and their homes, it's not right and it makes football seem second best."

Galatasaray defender Neill admitted the floods, which have surged through the state capital Brisbane in recent days, have affected the squad. However he insisted they were fully focused on beating the Koreans to lift the mood of the nation. "There's at least five players (from Queensland], some born there, some raised there, some playing there, so naturally they're on the internet every day, on the phone every day, wondering what's happening, wondering if it's their family or someone they know that's been affected," he added.

"It's a slight distraction but I don't want to sound insensitive here, we're very focused on the job tomorrow night.

"It will give us a little bit more determination to be successful and, if we do win that game, which we're hoping to do, then maybe we'll have a little bit more time to concentrate on generating support , offering a different type of donation."