With 100 days to go until the Qatar 2022 World Cup kicks off, Socceroos coach Graham Arnold has opened up on the painful road to qualifying for the showpiece tournament.
Amid the Covid-19 pandemic – and Arnold himself contracting the disease twice in two months, ruling him out of crucial training camps – the Socceroos trekked across Asia in a marathon slog which culminated in a do-or-die playoff win over Peru.
Now Arnold has shared his experiences of that difficult journey in an exclusive interview with Fox Sports News, airing in two parts – the first at 5.30pm AEST Friday night and the second at 7am AEST Sunday.
Arnold spent months abroad during the pandemic to be able to coach the team. Asked about the personal obstacles he had to overcome during the difficult road to Qatar, Arnold joked: “Have you got a half-hour?”
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From PCR tests – “I probably had those things shoved up my nose 120 times in one year” – to players ruled out with Covid-19 or travel restrictions, Arnold said the team faced unprecedented difficulties along the way.
But there are silver linings. Arnold said: “In the campaign we had to use 45 players to get through it. We’ve created more depth for the team. At the same time, the players were locked down in every hotel we were in, even in Australia… the boys had to isolate and socialize in the social room on the floor they were on.
“It brought the camaraderie together, the mateship stronger. They’re really like brothers now.
“I look back and reflect on that, and I do believe it was probably the greatest achievement the Socceroos ever made. And that’s no disrespect to the past qualifying campaigns – but this one was extremely tough.
“From September to June we played 12 World Cup qualifiers, that’s normally a two year program that got locked into one.”
At times, Arnold says he considered walking away from the team. But it was his love for the players that kept him pushing onwards.
He says the experience was: “Tough on the family, tough on the wife. If I had done it the way of come-and-go (from Australia), I would have been in quarantine for 94 days in seven months. There’s no way! I would have had to resign and move on.
“I’ll be honest,” he added. “The Japan game, the Covid lockdown and all that – there was a time there that I thought: ‘I’ve had enough’.
“That really knocked me about, getting Covid for the second time in seven weeks. Testing positive the first time, two PCR negatives the day after and the day after – and still getting locked down by the government for seven days quarantine. I thought ‘I can’t do this anymore.’”
But after returning to the national team camp and seeing his players, Arnold knew he wouldn’t give up on the team.
“We’ve got this special bond. They’re like my sons, the players. I just couldn’t walk out on them. I just wanted to be there for them.”
Watch Graham Arnold’s interview on Fox Sports News at 5.30pm AEST Friday and 7am AEST Sunday.
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