Proud but disappointed Socceroos coach Graham Arnold has deflected questions about his future after his team’s gallant exit from the World Cup, instead calling on governments to help fund the permanent home the game has never had during his long involvement.
But he might have inadvertently let slip an insight into his mindset when he talked about the legacy he would leave in the shape of a cohort of young players who could and should help Australia qualify for the next World Cup in 2026.
Socceroos coach Graham Arnold as Australia’s World Cup campaign ends.Credit:Getty Images Europe
“I haven’t even thought about [my future]. My contract is up,” Arnold said. “I just want to go away, have a good holiday, have a break and see what happens.
“I worked extremely hard in this campaign to get to where we got to. I [coached] the Olympic team for nothing to help the players come through. I haven’t even thought about it. I’ll have a break, and then no doubt I’ll have a discussion with the federation.”
Veteran Mathew Leckie put in a vote for Arnold.
“I think ‘Arnie’ is an amazing coach. He creates a great atmosphere, great culture, and I think that’s why we’ve got such an amazing group,” Leckie said. “Every single player that stepped on the pitch in this tournament gave everything they had. And I think that’s why we have so much success.
Argentina’s Lionel Messi makes a shot as Australia’s Mathew Leckie tries to block.Credit:AP
“What his future is here, we will never know. But I think although he’s had some criticism … I think he’s proved and showed in this tournament. You know how much he can get out of the team.”
Arnold said he had told the players after the match that he could not have been prouder of them, and hoped and believed that the nation was just as proud. “Before we came here, everyone said we were the worst Socceroos team ever,” he said. “That’s gone now.”
Arnold said he was disappointed only because he felt the Socceroos could have come away with a better result for the effort they made.
“It’s me. It’s the way I am,” he said. “Even though we’ve been successful, I feel like we failed. I just wanted it so badly for the nation and the fans and for football in Australia.
The Socceroos applaud the Australian supporters after their close loss to Argentina.Credit:AP
“Making the last 16 for me wasn’t enough. I wanted more. I know a lot of other people might be happy with it, but it’s just the way I am.”
Arnold reiterated that soccer was the only sport capable of uniting the nation. Striker Jamie Maclaren said images the team had seen of crowds in Federation Square affirmed it.
“We probably had AFL, NRL fans in that crowd. Maybe they love our game even more now,” he said. “Who knows? But if we can inspire more people to play our game … just like you saw the crowd [for the knockout clash] was 90-10 [Argentina-Australia] in terms of fans.
“And you can feel they love their game. It’s the No.1 sport in their country. We want to get to those levels. There’s a long way to go, but doing stuff like this can be a fork in the road type moment and you just hope that there’s kids out there that want to be the next players that play for our country.”
Arnold consoles Aziz Behich at the end of their World Cup road.Credit:Getty Images
Arnold was lost for words about Lionel Messi, said Aziz Behich’s inspired run and near-goal would have been “Messi in a yellow shirt” and said teenager Garang Kuol would learn from his last-minute chance to send the match into extra time, but was saved by Argentine goalkeeper Emiliano Martinez.
“There were quite of questions around why I picked a lot of those young boys,” he said. “For me, the most important thing is qualifying for the next World Cup. And leaving a bit of a legacy there with the young boys and having those young boys coming through is so important.”
But Arnold cautioned that progress would not be automatic. “There’s an expectation it should just happen every time,” he said. ” We need to spend money and get help from government to put some money into the game to help develop kids.
“One thing I’d really love to see before I finish up completely in football is that the government build us a house.
Craig Goodwin’s smash deflects from an Argentine defender and becomes an own goal..Credit:Getty
“We don’t have a home. We’ve been homeless since I’ve been involved for 37 years in the national teams. We need a home, a facility like Aspire [their base in Doha], something like the AIS, something that the government can help fund and the development of the national team, but also to improve Australian football.”
Meantime, the legendary Messi paid tribute to the challenge Australia posed.
“It was a very strong and different match,” he said. “We knew it was going to be this way. We had played recently, we didn’t have much time to rest up. We were concerned. We knew it was going to be a very physical match and they were very strong.
“Luckily, we found a goal …”
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