Graham Arnold

Socceroos coach Graham Arnold. Photo: Aleksandar Jason/Subway Socceroos

In their first ever trip to the Gold Coast, the Socceroos were defeated by Bahrain in the opening game of the third round of World Cup qualification after an 89th minute own goal.

The own goal, awarded to Harry Souttar, came late in the contest after Australia were forced down to 10 players following a red card to Kusini Yengi in the 77th minute following a boot to the neck of Bahrain’s Sayed Baqer.

It was an incredibly frustrating first half for Graham Arnold’s side, who were allowed to control possession, amassing 70 per cent of possession, but it was mostly in the middle and defensive thirds.

The Socceroos struggled inside the final third, amassing only one shot on target despite having 12 touches inside the penalty area, and that was when they could break down the mid-to-low block Bahrain were applying, which the hosts also struggled with.

Arnold was very blunt with his assessment after the match.

“We went out there to do our best, and obviously it didn’t work tonight for us and everything went against us,” he said.

“Those types of things happen in football and it’s how you recover and get over it.”

Whilst it would be incredibly unfair to base an entire qualifying campaign off one result where there were several players unavailable through injury, most notably at right back with the likes of Ryan Strain, Jordy Bos, and Gethin Jones out of action, this was a strong side for Arnold at most other posititons.

This is what we saw throughout the 2022 World Cup qualification campaign, where Australia struggled, not gaining three points from key matches like this.

In fact, historically, it has been what has happened since Australia moved from Oceania to Asia, where they have come up against these sorts of teams that sit back, defend, allow the opposition to dominate possession, but do not concede, and try to snag a goal on the counter-attack.

“They had six at the back, they had numbers. Hopefully you see that Bahrain physically [are] a big, strong team,” Arnold said.

“That was one of the things we always had over those type of nations, but you know, the creativity is down sometimes.

“It’s not just with one training session with us trying to make those type of combinations and everything.

“Sometimes it’s down to that one individual in a 1v1 situation.”

There were a few bright spots, however. Alessandro Circati’s versatility moving around the pitch, shifting between the midfield and the backline.

Nestory Irankunda’s injection into the game in the 58th minute added a much needed spark to Australia’s game, and the game began to turn in Australia’s direction with a result looking favourable for the hosts, but that began to simmer down around the 70th minute as the game turned again.

The latter stages of the second half were marked with routine fouls awarded to Bahrain and capped off by the red card to Yengi that was more than warranted, but it was also accompanied by extra theatrics from Baqer that further frustrated the home crowd.

Arnold decried the “play-acting” post match, but pointed out that a lot of the players have not experienced it before.

“Again, it’s about learning lessons and not getting frustrated with it, because every time the game stops and balls get kicked away and all that, it frustrates them in their brain and it affects their performance,” he said.

The Socceroos now turn their attention to the match against Indonesia on Tuesday, with Arnold saying pre-game he plans on rotating the squad.

Whilst one of those rotations will be forced with Yengi’s red card, it is difficult to see what changes Arnold can make that would inspire a better performance than the one against Bahrain, besides starting Irankunda.

Ultimately, the three points will be a must for the Aussies, as starting with two losses would be a disaster in a group that features Saudi Arabia and Japan, who Australia only picked up one point against across the four games in the 2022 qualifying cycle, even with expanded spots up for grabs at the 2026 World Cup.

Tags: