Relying on foreign players
Australia went through the perfect second qualifying round with 8 wins. They will enter the third qualifying round, taking place from September 2, 2021 to March 29, 2022, with the goal of participating in the World Cup for the 5th consecutive time. Australia will play their opening match against China on September 2 at home. After that, the team will visit My Dinh Stadium of the Vietnam team on September 7.
Due to the Government's COVID-19 control measures, Australia will not play at home against China. However, Graham Arnold believes that with a group of potential players playing domestically and internationally, the team from the land of the rat couple will complete the goal.
"Maybe about 65 call-ups will be sent to clubs and players. We hope the players will be fully present, but there are some countries that have different limitations and different quarantine methods when you return home.
We are very lucky to have 30 good players abroad and they can go to other countries and play anytime, anywhere. If we had to rely on all the players in Australia, maybe the team wouldn't be able to play because they were quarantined when they returned home. I can only say that Australia is always ready to join the national team as usual, 5-6 days before the matches," coach Graham Arnold said on the Australian Football Federation's homepage on the afternoon of August 17.
Through this statement, Graham Arnold's intention is very clear. He will build the Australian national team based on a squad of players playing abroad, mostly in Europe. These players are less limited in their quarantine time, after playing international matches for the national team. For players playing domestically, they are forced to be quarantined for 14 days after returning home.
Confidently defeating both China and Vietnam
Coach Graham Arnold is currently in the UAE and he is focusing on watching Australian players playing in Europe. He was delighted that their stars such as midfielder Tom Rogic (Celtic, Scotland), striker Martin Boyle (Hibernian, Scotland), Awer Mabil (Midtjylland, Denmark) were in brilliant form at the start of the season.
"We have met China in the opening match and I am spending time here to analyze their strengths and weaknesses. It was great to see Tommy Rogic get along with Ange Postecoglou at Celtic and score. Mabil scored against Celtic in the Champions League a few weeks ago, while Martin Boyle burst into flames at Hibernian... Australia have a lot of good players and I am very optimistic about what's ahead," Arnold emphasized.
The midfield is a very highly appreciated area of the Australian team. With the excellent form of Ajdin Hrustic (Eintracht Frankfurt, Germany), coach Graham Arnold is confident that he will build a "great midfield" with Hrustic, Tommy Rogic and Aaron Mooy (former Brighton player).
In the June training session, Australia did not have the best force but they still had 4 wins against Jordan, Nepal, Kuwait and Taiwan (China). In total, Australia has won all 8 matches in the second qualifying round, including 7 away matches.
For that reason, coach Graham Arnold is not too worried about not being able to compete in Australia. Therefore, he aims to help his home team win all 6 points against China and Vietnam.
He said: "I really want to bring the players back to the team, because there is nothing to worry me about when playing away from home. Australia has played eight matches so far, we are one of two countries to have won all 8 matches in the second stage, including 7 away matches.
Therefore, we are looking forward to the upcoming 2 matches with positive things. I expect the team to win 6 points from these 2 matches to start our journey".
With the match at My Dinh, the Vietnamese and Australian teams will play away. This is an advantage for Graham Arnold's team against Vietnam - the team that is rated lowest in Group B.
