Goalkeeper Mark Schwarzer has urged people to judge the Socceroos on their upcoming World Cup campaign rather than their failure to launch at the recent Asian Cup.

The Socceroos came in for plenty of criticism after exiting at the quarter-finals of a tournament they were tipped to win, leading to suggestions they were going backwards after their heroics at the 2006 World Cup.

The spotlight is set to be glaring when Australia take on world No.2 Argentina in a friendly in Melbourne on Tuesday - their first international since the penalty shootout loss to Japan.

But Schwarzer warned it would be wrong to suggest the Socceroos were on a downward spiral should they be beaten by one of world soccer's superpowers immediately after their Asian Cup disappointment.

The Middlesbrough keeper said the Socceroos' judgement day should be after their 2010 World Cup qualifying campaign - the first time they have tried to qualify through Asia.

"We need to be judged by the end of the World Cup campaign, the qualifying stages," Schwarzer said.

"By the time the qualifying stages begin in February, we'll be in a good position mentally and physically and we'll be wanting to give it all to qualify.

"The end of that passage of qualification is when you can judge whether we're successful or not and whether or not things have worked out for us."

Schwarzer said the result was not as important as how the team - minus Mark Viduka, Harry Kewell, Tim Cahill and John Aloisi - performed in the heat of battle against one of the world's best teams in front of a huge crowd at the MCG.

But Argentina have sent a virtually full-strength squad for the match, including one of the world's best players, Lionel Messi of Barcelona, and Manchester United striker Carlos Tevez.

"You can't really look too much into it in terms of a result - I think the performance is important," Schwarzer said.

With the absence of Asian Cup skipper Viduka and uncertainty over his international future, either West Ham defender Lucas Neill or Schwarzer is expected to be handed the captain's armband.

The Socceroos will also have to contend with coach Graham Arnold pulling double duty over the next few days as he juggles two Olyroos qualifiers on Saturday and Wednesday in Newcastle and Gosford with the Socceroos match on Tuesday.

Meanwhile, Argentina's multi-million dollar squad finally touched down in Melbourne after their flight arrived two and a half hours late.

They are expected to have their first training run on Friday.

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