Despite defeat against Spain and a trio of players picking up suspensions for the final group match, Graham Arnold has “no complaints at all” with the effort from the Olyroos during their 1-0 loss to Spain.
After shocking the world in their opening Group C match against Argentina, the Olyroos fell agonisingly short in their second group stage match against Spain.
Australia held firm until the 80th minute when Spanish forward Mikel Oyarzabal headed home the only goal of the game to hand the Olyroos a 1-0 defeat and dim their qualification chances.
While the Green and Gold could not register a positive result, qualification to the Quarter Finals is still in their own hands.
A draw or better against Egypt on Wednesday night will see Australia progress to the knockout phase of the tournament.
Olyroos head coach Arnold has reiterated throughout the tournament that his troops are "here to compete for a gold medal" and defeat against Spain has not changed that.
"I’m very, very proud of the players and performance. It was a fantastic effort against an obviously very good football nation and team in Spain. I thought we did exceptionally well,” Arnold said in the post-match press conference.
"We’re sitting here today with qualification in our own hands so it’s all up to us. We’re not relying on someone else having to beat someone else.
"I thought we defended fantastic, we can do better with the ball of course, and we will improve on that.
I’ve got no complaints at all, I’m extremely proud of the boys and again we have everything in our own hands. We’ll keep smiling and enjoying this experience."
Despite missing Riley McGree, Nathaniel Atkinson and Mitchell Duke, who are all suspended due to picking up too many yellow cards, Arnold reinforced how much faith he has in his squad depth.
"We've got depth. We've got fresh players ready to go," Arnold explained.
“We’ve shown in the past we can play different systems, different players and we’ve got plenty of depth so you can’t look at the negatives, I look at the positives.
"Okay, three players are suspended but they will be ready for the quarter-finals.”
Nicholas D'Agostino, Caleb Watts and Kye Rowles were all introduced as substitutes against Spain, and are among those in contention for a first start of the tournament when the Olyroos face Egypt on Wednesday night.
After naming back-to-back unchanged lineups, it serves as a fantastic opportunity for Arnold to use his 22-man squad, which was extended when the International Olympic Committees’ athlete replacement rules were changed to allow four extra players to join the squad.
One player, however, who will not be missing from the final Group C clash and will play another important part is Olyroos captain Thomas Deng.
The 24-year-old has been outstanding in the side's two Olympic matches and he believes the games against world-class opposition can only hold the side in good stead moving forward.
"Tonight, was a great experience. For many of us players we’ve never played against a top opposition like tonight," Deng said at the post-match press conference following defeat to Spain.
"We will grow from this and learn from it and pick ourselves up and go again for the next match."
Australia faces Egypt on Wednesday night at the Miyagi Stadium at 9pm AEST with everything still to play for.
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