Australia look like Asia’s poor relations

IF EARLY Asian Cup results are anything to go by, the continent’s natural order is a little out of whack.

And Socceroos coach Graham Arnold believes the rise of smaller nations is largely down to resources and facilities, warning Australia’s funding shortages and lack of teams puts its standing as an Asian giant in jeopardy.

Arnold has been waxing lyrical about the boutique stadiums and faultless surfaces in the United Arab Emirates.

All domestic clubs have purpose-built venues A-League counterparts navigating the hazards of multi-purpose grounds would relish.

Al Ain, for instance, has three home grounds.

The 25,000-capacity Hazza bin Zayed Stadium and 16,000capacity Khalifa bin Zayed Stadium are both playing host to Asian Cup games.

Even its third, the 15,000capacity Tahnoun bin Mohammed Stadium where Australia have trained before two of their three group games, impressed Arnold.

“Asian football is getting stronger and stronger and we look at the countries like the UAE, Vietnam and Thailand,” Arnold said.

“These countries are putting a lot of money into the development of players and putting a lot of money into training facilities.

“That’s one thing in Australia that we are lacking. We are lacking funds, we lack money, we lack great training facilities.

“We’ve only got a 10-team league. The Asian teams are definitely catching up and making the gap smaller and smaller.”

That was no clearer than in the first round than when India belted Thailand 4-1, Palestine held Syria, and the Philippines very nearly stopped heavy tournament fancies South Korea in their tracks.