Arnold searches for his 'best side' with perfect record in sight
After heavily rotating his squad throughout the Socceroos' three June FIFA World Cup Qualifying victories, Graham Arnold is ready to settle on a winning formula ahead of their final match against Jordan.
Goals from Mathew Leckie, Fran Karacic and Martin Boyle all but ensured the Australia would finish atop of their group with one fixture to spare after a 3-0 win over Nepal.
However the Socceroos Head Coach made clear his desire to emerge from stage two of qualifying with a flawless record of eight wins from eight.
"Overall, we came here to do a job, and we haven't finished yet," enforced Arnold.
" We've played seven games, six games away from home, one game at home. To have 21 points from and we're striving to finish off with eight wins."
READ: Socceroos defeat ten-man Nepal to advance to third round of FIFA World Cup qualifying
In order to do so, Arnold is set to line up his strongest side possible against Jordan - a competitive outfit who will be fighting to keep their qualification hopes alive.
"I'll have to see how everyone pulls up, everyone's in great shape," said the Socceroos coach.
"There's only one player now that we haven't used and that's Adam Taggart because of a small groin niggle.
I'll put out the best side that we have and I expect to win with another great performance.
"We are here to show everybody how much we're committed to the Australian flag and to Australia as a nation.
"So we'll recover and then we'll get ready and treat this as a final against Jordan, we want to eight in a row, we expect to win eight in a row."
Arnold cannot be prouder of how his side have returned to international action for the first time in 18 months.
The Socceroos have adapted to hub life with ease, building upon their promising start to FIFA World Cup Qualifying back in 2019.
The coach feels his squad have forged a strong mentality that will carry them forward past Jordan and beyond.
"I don't care if we play away from home or at home, we've got a mentality that we approach every game exactly the same," said Arnold.
"We go on the field expecting to win every game with great energy. These boys have shown that they enjoy playing in these environments in the Middle East.
"That fact that we've only played one game in home during the whole World Cup campaign and still putting on these type of performances that we are is fantastic."
Reflecting on his side's dominant victory Nepal, Arnold feels his side produced a performance that suggests they are on the verge of truly clicking into gear.
"We made another nine changes tonight and I'm very pleased the way we controlled the game," he said.
"But the most pleasing aspect was the amount of chances we created. You have to give credit to Nepal, they fought and fought and didn't stop running.
"The most important thing is we're creating chances, and the boys are putting our principles into play. One day it'll all come together and we will really hurt someone badly.
"The other pleasing thing is they didn't have a shot at All right, so the defensive side was very good."
The final match of Australia's June FIFA World Cup Qualification schedule is set to take place on Wednesday morning (AEST), with the match time and location to be confirmed shortly. It will be broadcast via Fox Sports, Kayo Sports Freebies, ABC and the My Football Live App.
Stay tuned to the Socceroos' social media channels and socceroos.com.au for further details as they arrive.