Arnold admits selection headaches ahead of World Cup

Graham Arnold says he is proud of how his young Subway Socceroos side fared in their 2-0 friendly win against New Zealand and now has several tough decisions to mull over prior to the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022™ commencing.

Arnold made 11 changes to the team that brushed aside the same opponent last Thursday in Brisbane, which featured plenty of youth and inexperience.

Six uncapped Subway Socceroos made their senior international debuts – with five of them featuring after half-time.

Harrison Delbridge, Ryan Strain, Cameron Devlin, Jason Cummings, Garang Kuol and Keanu Baccus all got their first taste of representing the Subway Socceroos.

Arnold believed his squad played some good football once they settled following a frustrating opening 45 minutes.

“I think, you know, overall, it was a good performance,” Arnold told reporters in the post-match press conference.

“I know those boys can do better than that. But, you know, we've had a short couple of days very short turnaround in between the two games.

“And the most important thing was the boys got out there. They believed in themselves.

“I thought the first-half was a bit scrappy, again. But that's what happens when you put 11 players who haven't played together for a long time.

“But I thought second half, when I relaxed the boys down at halftime, they really came through the second-half.”

Mitch Duke headed the Green and Gold into the lead on 54 minutes after a dominant start to the second-half before Cummings slotted a penalty on his debut.

Arnold was also satisfied with the improved physical effort which he felt was lacking at Suncorp Stadium.

“You know, I think today, we won many, many, many more 50-50s, aerial drills, second balls,” he said.

“And you know, if you don't win the second ball, so then you'll end up, you know, they'll end up having more possession, so, it was important that they did that.”

The boss joked he will be seeking a Panadol sponsorship due to the “number of headaches” he is going to have to pick his final 26-man squad for the world’s biggest tournament.

He reiterated that there is still plenty of time for players to push their case for selection between now and mid-November.

“As I said in the other interview there that I'm reaching out to Panadol for my new sponsor, because I'm going to have quite a number of headaches to fit in to a 26 man squad,” Arnold comically explained.

“But today is not the last day for the players to get chosen. If I make that clear that,  Qatar's a short lead in of only seven days. The boys have to go back to their clubs, they’ve got seven weeks, they’ve got to play, and they’ve got to be fit.

“They’ve got to be probably the fittest they've ever been. And thankfully, and finally, the A-League starts.

“And those boys I can actually watch the league and pick players on form, not on reputation.”