Proud Arnold still craved better result
EVEN after watching his brave Socceroos push the world’s greatest player and Argentina to the brink, Australia coach Graham Arnold demanded more.
Arnold lavished praise on his devastated players in the wake of their World Cup exit in Qatar, care of a 2-1 defeat to Argentina – proud at their historic achievements from the past fortnight.
For a team that few expected to even qualify for the Qatar tournament, let alone create history by becoming the first Socceroos outfit to claim back-to-back wins and reach the Round of 16 for the first time since 2006, the weekend result was an outrageous overachievement.
But still, despite a Lionel Messi masterclass and splitsecond of brilliance, Australia’s exit rankled.
In the minutes after Australia’s shattered players made their way off the field, Arnold dragged them into the dressing room for one final message.
“As I said to the boys before they started doing media and started beating themselves up, I just wanted to say to them how proud I was – and grateful of how many sacrifices and effort they’ve made through this whole campaign to do what they’ve done,” Arnold said.
“Of course they’re extremely disappointed. But it’s not every day you get to play the third-best nation in the world, and against those type of players. I felt we did very, very good tonight.”
As ever, Arnold craved something extra. One more win. One more point proven. One more critic made to eat their words.
“It’s the way I am. Even though we’ve succeeded and been successful, I feel like we’ve failed,” he said. “I just wanted to win so badly for the nation and the fans. Making the last 16 for me wasn’t enough.
“That’s just me. I know a lot of other people might be happy with it but that’s just the way I am.
“But I’m pretty sure, and I really hope, that Australia is proud of them tonight. They did a fantastic job.”
A stunning strike from Craig Goodwin – later credited as an own goal to Enzo Fernandez – summed up Australia’s never-say-die spirit, but late chances to Aziz Behich and Garang Kuol couldn’t quite send the match to extra time.
There were the hardluck stories of the night – Australian players went to bed with the ‘what if’ moments rattling around their heads.
What if captain Mat Ryan – dominant throughout Australia’s consecutive clean sheet victories over Tunisia and Denmark – hadn’t got himself into a tangle, allowing Julian Alvarez to slot home the decisive second goal?
Lionel Messi had produced a moment of trademark quality to score the opener – his first goal in the knockout rounds of the World Cup.