COVID caused unbreakable bond: Socceroos
Steve Larkin |
The universe is repaying the Socceroos for their sacrifices during the COVID pandemic which built an unbreakable bond of mateship, coach Graham Arnold says.
Arnold believes COVID-related hardships are a key factor in his Australian squad’s unlikely journey to a World Cup knockout clash against Argentina.
“The universe is paying us back for all the hard work we have done,” Arnold told reporters.
“The universe is looking down on us and is repaying the support, the sacrifices, that the players and staff made through all that.”
The Socceroos meet Lionel Messi’s Argentina in a round of 16 encounter on Saturday night (0600 AEDT Sunday) in Qatar.
And Arnold reckoned without COVID, his squad may not have become just the second Socceroos outfit to reach the knockout phase of a World Cup.
Australia’s qualifying campaign began with 11 straight triumphs, a record streak for any nation during cup qualifiers.
And just four of the Socceroos’ 20 qualifiers were contested on home soil because of COVID complications, chiefly Australia’s border closures.
“We had some hard journeys,” Arnold said.
“But the best part of it is – and I’m trying to look at the positive, I do believe this has been crucial – COVID helped unite this team together and unite the culture, the family culture of brotherhood, mateship.
“These boys were in lockdown.
“When when we were in hotels, they couldn’t go off the floor they were on.
“They had to socialise with each other in the social room playing pool or table tennis or whatever.
“That really united the players as a family environment.”
Another COVID consequence was the Socceroos were forced to play four cup qualifiers in Doha.
“That gave us the experience of the air-conditioned stadiums, that gave us this experience of being here,” Arnold said.
“We have won six out of seven games here in Qatar, so we’re very familiar with the stadiums, the environment.
“It is, for us, a home away from home.”
The Australians were unbeaten in Doha in that stretch until their cup opening 4-1 loss to France.
But they rebounded with consecutive 1-0 victories against Tunisia and Denmark to become the first Socceroos team to win two games at one edition of the cup.
Arnold was acutely aware of the significance of their feats in following the 2006 Socceroos in reaching the round of 16.
“That’s one thing that we have achieved back in Australia, reuniting the nation after COVID, reuniting our sport of football,” he said.
“We have seen scenes of Fed Square and the celebrations back in Australia, it really makes everyone proud.
“And we want more. We haven’t finished yet.
“That’s the most important thing. We’re turning up to win another game tomorrow.”
Should the Socceroos win, they’ll advance to a quarter-final next Friday night (0600 AEDT Saturday) against the winners of the Netherlands-USA tie.
AAP
