"It’s a once in a lifetime tournament for us,” McKay said on Friday.
“Ange has made that clear to us, we're never going to have this opportunity again.
"The expectations are there more so than at the World Cup but I think we can handle it."
And with Kuwait also the opposition for McKay’s Socceroo debut eight years ago, he is hoping to have another crack at the Gulf nation after coming on as a late substitute in 2006 at Allianz Stadium in a 2-0 win.
“We know that maybe they [Kuwait] are seen as the weaker side in the group but we’re doing our homework and making sure we’re ready for everything they throw at us,” he said.
“The whole squad will be needed for the whole tournament so it won’t be the same XI for every game, so everyone has to be ready."
“We trained a bit earlier this morning and it was a bit of a lighter session and work our way up to that Friday game next week," he said.
He added: "Ange wants us to play entertaining, attacking football but that needs to translate into wins.”
