Football Federation Australia boss David Gallop spruiked "we're here all week" and Socceroos defender Matt McKay says returning to Canberra is like coming home as the national team attempts to win back fans in the capital.
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The Socceroos have ramped up preparations for their crucial World Cup qualifier against Kyrgyzstan at Canberra Stadium on Thursday night with the rest of the squad arriving on Tuesday.
It's the first time the Socceroos have played in Canberra since 2011, and Ange Postecoglou has based his team in the capital for the entire build up to garner public supporter.
It's a dramatic change of approach from the past, where the Socceroos only arrived in Canberra on the day of their 5-0 win against Malaysia four years ago and flew out the next morning.
Gallop used his speech at a Parliament House function on Monday to remind locals that the Socceroos were basing themselves in the capital.
But McKay hopes old wounds have healed and hoped a vocal home crowd of more than 20,000 would help the Socceroos get their qualifying campaign back on track.
McKay was part of the AIS squad in 2001 and lived at the Bruce campus.
"It's great [to be back in Canberra]. I was actually here for the 5-0 win against Malaysia. We had great support then but this is a more important game as that was a friendly and this was a World Cup qualifier," McKay said.
"I think it's great we're here in Canberra. A lot of the players have lived here before, having been at the AIS, so it's like coming home a bit.
"I'm really looking forward to playing on a good surface at a good stadium and hopefully a full house will help us get those three points."
The Socceroos and the women's national team, the Matildas, are both training in Canberra this week in preparation for their respective qualifying matches.
"I think it has happened once before, we actually had a training session together [on the Gold Coast in 2010]," said Matildas co-captain Clare Polkinghorne.
"It very rarely happens [that we're in the same place] so it's exciting for us to be here ... but this week I think we've both got very important things to be working towards. I'm not sure if now is the right time [to train together], but hopefully in the future that might happen again."
The Socceroos need to win their remaining four World Cup qualifiers to progress to the next stage of the process.
They hit a speed bump when they lost to Jordan 2-0 last month in a hostile environment, but McKay said the Socceroos had moved and the players were more comfortable playing in Canberra.
"It's not going to just happen. We've seen that in the past, we've had some tough qualifiers before, but I think the unknowns are taken away when you're at home. We know that, we've got players coming back from travelling, but we'll rest up, train how the coaches see fit for Thursday night."
