Graham Arnold started his tenure as national team coach with a simple but spectacular goal – build the greatest Socceroos team ever.
Should the Socceroos find a way past Lionel Messi and Argentina it would be hard to argue Arnold hasn’t achieved it – if that’s not already the case.
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Whatever happens on Sunday morning (6am AEDT), Arnold and his team have overachieved by surpassing the performance of the star-studded 2006 golden generation – a feat many would have deemed Mission Impossible only months ago.
Arnold was reportedly on the brink of being sacked after defeats to Saudi Arabia and Japan left Australia’s qualification hopes in tatters. The Socceroos, already weary from an arduous campaign, were forced into two sudden-death playoffs with the famous penalty shootout victory over Peru proving the sliding doors moment of Arnold’s reign.
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Few could have predicted the events that have followed but the driving force all along has been the goal Arnold voiced on day one, and has never wavered from.
“I give a lot of credit to Arnie for that,” assistant coach René Meulensteen said after the 1-0 win over Denmark, Australia’s first ever back-to-back World Cup victory.
“When we first got together (in 2018) he said, I want to create the greatest Socceroos team ever. And that message has been an underlying message for us.
“A motivation that carried us through the whole four-and-a-half years and with all the hindrances we had.”
It’s been more about just belief, however, with the Socceroos success underpinned by some masterstrokes along the way from Arnold and his coaching team. These are some of the key moves, and moments, behind the Socceroos’ Qatar miracle.
THE BIG OLYROOS CALL
Arnold’s biggest concern when he took over was inheriting an ageing squad about to lose the likes of veterans Tim Cahill, Mile Jedinak and Mark Milligan and badly in need of regeneration.
Worried about the strength of young talent coming through, he took matters into his own hands by taking on a dual role as Olyroos coach for the Tokyo 2020 campaign, effectively for free.
The fruits of the bold move are on show in Qatar – 10 members of the squad who played at the Olympics are in Doha including breakout stars like Harry Souttar, Kye Rowles and Keanu Baccus.
Aside from the obvious development and experience benefits for his players there was another big bonus for Arnold – it gave him precious time to get to know his players, as footballers and people, with that knowledge becoming the backbone for tough selection calls around his World Cup squad and matches.
While it’s been a short-term success Arnold sensationally warned on the eve of the Denmark match it was a “quick fix” that papers over the cracks of Australia’s relative lack of investment in youth development.
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THE SCOTTISH REVOLUTION
Arnold didn’t just consider youth in his quest to replenish the national team, he also turned to genealogy.
The coach set about identifying talented players across the globe who might be eligible for selection through Australian ancestry, landing a decent-sized fish early by convincing former Scottish youth international Martin Boyle to pledge allegiance in his first year.
Boyle grew into one of Australia’s most important players as did another Scottish convert Harry Souttar, who Arnold convinced to commit to the birth nation of his mother.
Croatian-born defender Fran Karacic, like Souttar, had not set foot in Australia before representing the Socceroos, while striker Jason Cummings became another Scottish convert and a World Cup squad bolter.
Exploiting FIFA eligibility rules can be polarising but it’s certainly proved effective for Arnold, whose mentality has always been “the more talent we can get at our disposal, the better”.
He and his staff have been meticulous in their monitoring of players over the past four years with months spent on the road on regular reconnaissance missions.
THE COVID EFFECT
You can make a strong case that no team in Qatar faced a harder road to get there than the Socceroos.
Arnold’s team played a staggering 20 matches, with the global pandemic meaning only four could be played at home.
It was difficult on the players and Arnold, who caught Covid twice, but it also brought its benefits. Arnold says it made him a better, more empathic coach. And it also gave him the chance to use, and blood, a stack of talent – 48 players were used over the course of the campaign, including 17 debutants.
The other silver lining was the bond forged within the squad through a testing time.
“We were always locked in together during that period, we were here in Qatar for a long period of time,” veteran defender Aziz Behich said.
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“Right at the beginning when Arnie took over that was the first thing that he wanted to make sure we have, that comradery and that brotherhood, that friendship and that was the main thing.
“That was the main thing Arnie said, with Australians when you have backs against the wall and the bond in the changeroom the world is your Oyster pretty much and we’ve pretty much shown that.”
Meulensteen added: “I say it all the time in Europe … do you guys actually realise what the difference is … (from European qualifying)? We have 10 group games, then another eight and if you don’t qualify directly you’ve got another two playoffs … People don’t realise (how hard it is).
“Never mind the distances we have to travel, never mind that we could only play four games in Australia, so there’s so many things that add up but the only thing when it’s done – it’s created enormous strength from within.”
THE CULTURE
‘Aussie DNA’, ’boxing kangaroos’ … ‘lion mentality’. These are the phrases emanating out of the Socceroos camp in Qatar and Australia’s performances have proved its more than just rhetoric.
Arnold has driven his culture built on ‘mateship’, resilience, respect and positivity from day one and anybody who hasn’t bought into it isn’t in Qatar, according to defender Milos Degenek.
“It takes you after a certain amount of time to realise he’s right,” Degenek said.
“You have to buy into what he’s doing, if you don’t buy into it, you’re not part of the squad.
“And all these boys bought into that and Arnie has got that mentality that has been passed on to us, that you have got to visualise it, you have got to dream it, you have got to speak it, believe it, and then it happens.
“It’s a prime example of when you really, really want something which he has really wanted since day one, since his first training session we had in Turkey, he said he wants to be the coach of the greatest Socceroos team ever.
“And I think that in itself is massive and I think Arnie has proven that he is one of the greatest coaches that Australia has ever had and I think this generation has proven that it could be the greatest generation ever.’
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THE SLIDING DOORS MOMENT
Arnold was one kick away from a very different legacy had things gone differently in the now-infamous shootout victory over Peru.
In conjunction with trusted goalkeeping coach John Crawley, he boldly gambled everything on the decision to substitute Mat Ryan for ‘Grey Wiggle’ Andrew Redmayne, and won.
That, striker Jamie Maclaren, says, was the moment that solidified four years of work.
“There were a lot of games throughout the campaign, we had the quarantines and all that, but the Peru game was the turning point in this inner sanctum,” he said.
“There is outside noise, we get it, there’s always going to be in this game. Some are with you some are against you but the Peru game made us believe, you know what? We can go to the World Cup and we can produce because Peru are one of the best teams in South America.”
Muelensteen said it was at that moment he and Arnold “knew we were going to do something special” and the belief held strong, even after Australia’s opening defeat in Qatar
“We never got carried away with the 4-1 loss to France, I’m telling you,” he said
“Maybe a lot of people did, maybe a lot of people dropped their expectations.
“ But we knew there was no expectation (that mattered) except only from ourselves.
“That makes me so proud that we stepped up we, got a response against Tunisia and we got another unbelievable performance today – and now these guys are heroes for a lifetime.”
