Socceroos coach Graham Arnold is ready to prove the doubters wrong and is looking forward to having a full squad available for the do-or-die World Cup qualifying play-offs.
Australia are priced at 500/1 to win the 2022 World Cup, but first of all they have to get there with the UAE and Peru standing in their way.
Second chance
Arnold was linked with the sack after the Socceroos failed to qualify from their group and were put into the play-offs. But the powers that be are keeping the faith for now and Arnold hopes to make it count.
In fairness the former Sydney FC boss had his excuses as sickness prevent him from being present at training towards the end of the group stages. And he is looking forward to being back amongst it.
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"I actually am big with coaching on face-to-face relationships, face-to-face communication and also face-to-face training,” he said. “I wasn't able to do that in any of the camps so far this year, so it's just great for me to be able to feel like a coach again and be back in camp.”
Fully fit squad
The Socceroos were also missing a number of star players, but thankfully for Arnold pretty much everyone is now fit and available for the game against the UAE. A game they need to win if they are to progress and face Peru.
"It's just great to get a full squad," Arnold added. "This will be the first time in the four years that I've been in charge that we'll have 10 days' preparation for a game."
