AS ONE of the Olyroos' three over-age players heading to Beijing, David Carney is one of the most important factors in Graham Arnold's plan for Olympic success.

Until now however, his recent whereabouts have been a mystery and of increasing concern for team officials. Some speculated he was on the verge of pulling out of the Olympic squad or that his club, Sheffield United, would block his availability for the Games, as AC Milan have done with Kaka and Real Madrid with Robinho.

While Carney is hardly of the same stature, he fills an important position on the left side of Arnold's first XI and had he not fronted for the Olyroos, it would have proved a sizeable problem for the squad.

But yesterday Carney confirmed to Arnold he would link with the squad tomorrow, albeit too late to play in tonight's friendly against Japan's under-23 team in Kobe's Home Stadium.

Arnold said Sheffield United would have been within their rights to keep hold of Carney under FIFA regulations and ensure he completed much of the Blades' pre-season before he flew in to link with the squad before the friendly with South Korea's under-23 side on July 31.

"It's not a problem … but there's no FIFA rules or protection for over-age players," Arnold said from Kobe yesterday.

"Sheffield United has been great. I've been talking a lot with their manager Kevin Blackwell and David's done three weeks of pre-season and played four or five games, so match fitness isn't a problem … He'll have two weeks to acclimatise and prepare for the heat, so we're very happy with that."

While Carney is arriving late, the rest of the squad is well into its Games preparations, following their 3-2 win over the New Zealand Olywhites in Sydney with a 1-0 loss against China in Changchun on Sunday.

Tonight, a full house will greet them in Kobe in the second part of a double-header, with the Matildas taking on the Japanese women's team in the earlier match. Arnold has a near-full complement of players to choose from. He's continuing to prepare the squad with a view to gaining match fitness rather than results, and will give Adam Federici a chance in goal after preferring Tando Velaphi in the past two matches.

"I've trained them harder than what I'd normally do before games and they'll continue to do that until we get into Beijing," Arnold said. "Normally a training session before a game goes for 45 minutes, but I've been training them for an hour-and-a half, mainly to keep them out in the heat and to get them physically ready."