Graham Arnold lauds Socceroos’ effort in humid Hanoi

Socceroos coach Graham Arnold was full of praise for his side after they came away with all three points from their tricky encounter against Vietnam.

Arnold was left pleased with his side’s effort after a Rhyan Grant goal proved the difference in the humidity of Hanoi on Tuesday night.

“I’m very happy with the effort. The performance obviously could have been better but you have to look at the circumstances and the conditions we played in,” Arnold said.

“At the end of the day, another clean sheet and the effort was fantastic.”

There was one man who could not be overlooked from that victory with Arnold signalling out praise for Grant who made plenty of sacrifices to be in the Socceroos camp.

READ: Goalscorer Grant treasuring Socceroos 'adventure' abroad

“I’m just so grateful for Rhyan himself because he was one of the only A-League players that put up his hand to come,” Arnold said.

“He’s so proud to play for the country, he’ll do anything to play for the country.”

Grant’s first Socceroos goal was made all the sweeter given that he had not kicked a ball for some time until he linked up with the national team last week.

“He [Grant] was a bit worried about his fitness and the fact that he hadn’t kicked a ball since the end of May but as I said to him, freshness and adrenaline will get you through, and he’s done a great job in both games.”

The conditions in Hanoi were not ideal for his players but he thought they handled it well as they secured their tenth win in a row and their eighth clean sheet in as many matches.

“I was so proud of the players. Tommy Rogic up front and Mitchell Duke when he came on and Tags [Taggart] while our central defense pairing was great again,” he said.

The Socceroos record-breaking win sees them stay top of their group as they switch their focus to upcoming opponents, Oman and Japan, in October.