Under pressure amid months of middling form, Socceroos coach Graham Arnold did something unusual following the scoreless draw against Indonesia in Jakarta on Tuesday night that leaves Australia languishing in World Cup qualifying Group C.
The famed man-manager – who has built a reputation on maintaining strong rapport with his dressing room – was critical of his players.
“We should have won and won comfortably. We had the chances, we missed chances – again,” Arnold said. “Look, I can only do so much, I can’t play the game for them. And at the end of the day, we should have beaten Bahrain – we missed chances – and today we should have won comfortably and we missed chances. So I’m as disappointed probably as every other Australian is.”
The game had proceeded as many had feared it might. Australia’s muscular outfit, on a poor surface, could find no way through a resolute opponent buoyed by a 70,000-strong crowd at Gelora Bung Karno Stadium.
Yet compared to the disaster against Bahrain last week – when a late own goal in Gold Coast secured a shock win for the visitors – Arnold said he saw some improvement.
“[It was a] vastly improved performance, and the boys showed that, but [I’m] extremely disappointed, because how many chances do we create? How many chances do we get? And it’s been a common theme for over a year.”
The closest Australia came to scoring was a first half shot from 18-year-old Nestory Irankunda, who was making his first start. His blast from outside the area found the inside of the post, bounced back into play and onto the back of the Indonesian goalkeeper Maarten Paes, but somehow diverted away from the net.
“It was just a bit unlucky,” Irankunda told Paramount Plus. “I hit it perfectly, just one centimetre away and obviously that happens in football but we go again in the next round.”
In just a month’s time, Australia welcome China – the only team below the Socceroos in the six-team Group C standings – to the Adelaide Oval. Five days later they travel to Japan for a clash against the Samurai Blue, who have scored 12 goals in two games, including a 5-0 thrashing of Bahrain on Tuesday.
The other automatic place in the group – part of the third round of Asian qualification – is occupied by Saudi Arabia, three points ahead of Australia.
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“Second spot is on four at the moment,” Arnold said. “So it’s not like it’s a disaster, but I’ve got to go home and do a lot of thinking.”
Irankunda said he was “unlucky to get subbed off a bit early” in the 59th minute but he was happy with his performance. And he was confident in the team’s ability to recover in qualification for the expanded 48-team tournament that gives the Socceroos two more chances of reaching North America, even if they finish outside the top two in Group C.
“We’re not panicking. No need to panic,” he said.