It’s a feeling we’ve come to know so well from major tournaments over the years, but the Olyroos are out of the Tokyo Olympics after a bitterly disappointing 2-0 defeat to Egypt.
Needing a point to advance as Group C runners-up, the Olyroos instead found a willing opponent in an Egyptian side that suddenly sparked to life on a rain-soaked pitch in Rifu.
Having failed to score in either of their two previous group-stage encounters, Egypt looked the better of the two sides in the first half and took a deserved lead when Ramadan Sobhi got to the ball in front of a lumbering Harry Souttar before pulling it back for Ahmed Yasser Rayyan to smash home.
It was no less than Egypt deserved but it couldn’t have come at a worse time for Australia, who were less than a minute away from going into the half-time break locked at 0-0.
Instead Graham Arnold found himself a goal down and with an urgent need for his team to get on the front foot. Enter Daniel Arzani.
Having been dropped to the bench after starting the first two games, Arzani was the creative spark the Olyroos were crying out for.
Unfortunately the talented winger could find no way past Egypt’s veteran goalkeeper Mohamed El Shenawy, who got down well in the 55th-minute to turn Arzani’s skipping drive away.
A few minutes later Arzani twice played in Joel King, but the Sydney FC defender seemed to hesitate at the final moment and neither of his left-footed crosses amounted to anything.
And that, really, was the story of the night for the Olyroos. Try as they might they just couldn’t find the moment of quality they so desperately needed to break the game open.
(Photo by Robert Cianflone/Getty Images)
Is that Arnie’s fault? He picked the players, but he wasn’t the one who failed to pick a pass.
The closest Australia came to scoring arrived with just over ten minutes to go in normal time, when Arzani ghosted between three defenders before launching an absolute rocket that looked destined for the top corner.
Yet again it was El Shenawy who tipped the goal-bound effort over the crossbar, and his save looked all the more impressive when Tom Glover failed to handle Nasser Mansi’s skidding shot and saw Egypt’s outstanding substitute Amar Hamdy tap home shortly after.
If it was cruel on Glover, who rarely seemed to have much to do throughout the group stage, it also summed up Australia’s inability to win the key moments in the match.
And it didn’t take long for the questions around Australia’s tactics to start mounting on social media, with former Socceroos goalkeeper and 1992 Olympian Mark Bosnich leading the charge.
So did Arnie get his tactics right on the night? One of the first questions that started doing the rounds is why he waited until Australia trailed 1-0 to introduce Arzani alongside ball-playing midfielder Marco Tilio.
In Arnold’s defence, Tilio was a passenger in the first half, barely getting a touch of the ball while Egypt’s creative spark Ramadan ran riot.
But even when the fresh legs of Arzani offered more in front of goal than any of his teammates, it was still left to set pieces and Nick D’Agostino’s long throws to try and unlock Egypt’s defence.
Was it a mistake to set up so defensively against an opponent that needed all three points?
Was the decision to throw towering Crystal Palace defender Jay Rich-Baghuelou up front a sign of just how bereft our attacking options were?
And how badly did the suspensions of Nathaniel Atkinson, Riley McGree and Mitch Duke affect Australia’s chances?
I have some sympathy for Arnold. Everyone’s a critic the second you lose a big game.
But the questions will keep rolling in on the back of another deflating night for Aussie football.
Perhaps the most relevant one is this. Are you ‘Arnie in’ or ‘Arnie Out’ when it comes to him coaching our national teams?
Will
Guest
Regardless if they can keep the ball or not its irrelevant, they only needed to get a draw and not take alot of risk but Arnie misjudged the situation with tactics and personal and we should played it well just to sit for a draw. But I also dont understand you mention they cant keep ball in all of these games but we see them do it at a-league level? So this doesnt add that maybe this is level is alot more harder which tests your decision making and execution alot more after all it international level play? Maybe we need to exposure more to this level of play more often? After all this is alot more harder than playing in the aleague. Or even better they need to be playing more football so they can improve even further? After all we cant expect them to flick the switch at a much higher level when they are not used it in their daily careers so ill give them credit for not competing but they can do almost achieving something good which deserves their full respect.
Igor Litvinyuk
Roar Rookie
What does it matter who coaches this team? The problem is not coaching or tactics but complete and utter lack of skills. It was just painful to watch. Sure, it didn’t help when the only player on the team who can hold his own on the ball against international competition started the game on the bench, but one player does not make a team. You can appoint Pep Guardiola himself to coach this team and the result would have been exactly the same. You cannot win if you cannot play. As simple as that. The only thing against Arnie is his delusional boasting about “shocking the world” and “winning the gold”. Sure, a coach must motivate his players somehow, but within limits of sanity.
Roberto Bettega
Roar Rookie
Trung anyone who has watched the game for 50 years has seen teams need, play for and get the desired nil-all draw that they need to advance in a competition time after time after time. You make it sound like its some sort of radical thing that has never been attempted in the history of football!!
Tim Carter
Roar Pro
Trung’s comment below is better than anything I could write. Teams SHOULD be able to hold their shape, but it’s easier said than done.
Redondo
Roar Rookie
To summarise - Arnie went from god to goose in 3 games. My summary: vs Argies - played to win, good in attack, couldn't hold the ball vs Spain - played to draw, run off their feet, couldn't hold the ball vs Egypt - played to counterattack, unbalanced by absences and exhaustion, couldn't hold the ball Key problem is not the coach's tactics but the players inability to hold the ball i.e. protect possession. Too many couldn't thread a pass safely or manoeuvre out of a tight space. If too many players can't protect possession a coach's tactics are pretty meaningless, especially in attack. On the subject of coaches, over the years readers here have pilloried Farina, Verbeek, Osieck, Postecoglou and now Arnold. It's just possible it's not the coaches who are the problem but the players (with the notable exception of Farina, who really couldn't coach). In this instance, Arnold took risks for the future by picking a team of promising talents and by attempting to resurrect Arzani's career. If those gambles pay off in the future Arnie will have done us a favour. As it is we beat Argentina and held Spain for 80 minutes with a team full of A-Leaguers. That's worth remembering. And, at times, Atkinson, King, Arzani, Deng, Souttar, Wales, Metcalfe, Tilio and McGree all looked the goods. Glover too but goalies are harder to judge when they're young - de Gea looked like a terrible mistake for ManU for his first season or two. Genreau, Watts, D'Agostino, Rowles and Baccus - not sure about any of them. The big Rich guy did a great impression of a tree.
Trung
Guest
My view is that at the minimum if we play defensively, we should be dangerous in the counterattack. Italy was dangerous against Spain in the semifinal despite being outplayed from a possession point of view. England on the other hand weren’t after getting the early lead. Being dangerous on the counter puts question mark on the opposition to not overcommit in attack in possession and helps your side defensively Parking the bus and repelling attack after attack is possible but it is also physically exhausting and while getting a result is possible, I rarely seen it work without considerable luck (ie opposition missing chances, goalkeeper having a great game etc)
PeterCtheThird
Guest
Mr Tuckerman, thank you for replying
Lionheart
Roar Rookie
rugby's a winter sport too craig, and swimming when it's indoors which it always is these days
Mike Tuckerman
Expert
I called New Zealand dark horses before the tournament, mentioned their progress to the knock-out stage on the live blog last night and congratulated them elsewhere on the achievement. But for what it’s worth this is an Australian website, I’m an Australian and so are the majority of the readers here. I’m pleased for the Kiwis but the job I’m employed to do is analyse Australia’s performance. Good on them, though.
Loosey
Roar Rookie
Performances like that are part of the reason football isn't taken seriously (enough) in Australia. It was Arnoldball for the majority of the second half - hoof it up the park and out of the defensive third. There didn't seem to be any structure in the transition from the back. Throwing up a defender as a striker is just amateur hour. We used to do that in cup games 30 years ago.
PeterCtheThird
Guest
Since as far as I can tell, nobody else on this site, including Mike Tuckerman, can be bothered, congratulations to New Zealand on progressing from the group stage and all the best for your quarter-final against South Korea. I understand the desire to concentrate solely on sinking the knives and the boots into the Australian coach, but really, a little cross-ditch camaraderie and courtesy wouldn’t have gone astray.
PeterCtheThird
Guest
Yep, absolutely all Annie’s fault, including his cunning instructions to his players to deliberately accumulate as many yellow cards as possible so as to restrict his selection choices as much as possible. No doubt we’ll discover that Annie has pocketed a fortune in kickbacks from the Pharaohs for this. FFS! Get over yourselves!
Roberto Bettega
Roar Rookie
This was our first appearance in the Olympics since 2008. Prior to that, we were a regular participant. We actually did better this time round than in 2008, where we achieved one draw against Serbia, and then lost 1-0 against both Argentina and Nigeria. Socceroo fans will recall that we would go on to meet Serbia two years later in the WC, and that is in fact the last time the socceroos ever achieved a victory at that level. History tells us a few will make it to next year's WC. A few more will have the next one in their sights. About half the squad will be lucky to become fringe socceroos. That's just the way it normally pans out. I'm reminded that even at its home games, China embarassed itself yet again. Interestingly, Cameroon needed a nil-all draw in its last game against Italy to advance to the quarters, and duly earned it.
Roberto Bettega
Roar Rookie
WE might have to agree to disagree, but I would have thought that if you can't set and maintain a robust defensive shape for 90 minutes, then you should give the game away.
Lionheart
Roar Rookie
brief history of swimming and tennis in Australia: for the first half pf the 20th century Australia was a superpower in these sports, with generation after generation of world champions. Then it all stopped, around 1980. There are many reasons but basically, we relied on backyard cottage industry to generate champions while the rest of the world started to take a scientific approach, and they passed us. For some years we barely had a champion, then we invested in these sports. And now we have a fair share of champions.
Johan
Guest
Arnie is ‘wack’ as the young say but it matters not really as one cannot polish the proverbial! You’re right about #5 harry Souttar. He was all over the place yesterday. He appears to be selected as a set piece specialist where his height is an advantage. The fact that a defender is selected to score the goals is farcical. Against better teams the fact that Souttar scores the odd header will not offset the fact that he is not a good defender and is slow, has poor touch and positioning and doesn’t read the game well.
Trung
Guest
I am Arnie in camp but that’s due to lack of alternative. We are not going to get a Guardiola or Bielsa. We burn our bridges with Ange. So we might as well stick with Arnie who is passionate about Australian football with a good record in the A-league then an overseas mercenary like Osieck or Van Marwijk who played worst style of football and didn’t actually produce a result either. The poor performance against Egypt doesn’t erase the good work against Argentina but does leave a sour taste. No one expected Australia to get out of the group stage prior to the olympics and 3 losses was my expectation so he exceeded my expectation. It was only the heightened expectations from the Argentina victory that made this performance so disappointing. If we lost 3 matches in the row I would have been more positive frame of mind than the false hope that we had from this tournament Yeah I don’t want Arnie to be sacked, however i hope this cause him to reevaluate his conservatism and learn from his experience with the senior team. At the very least if you are going to be defensive, we should at the bare minimum be threatening on the counter and having zero shots in the first half against Spain and virtually nil chance in the first half against Egypt should make us think think that either a) work to improve our performance during transitions when we gain possession or b) that defensive counter-attacking gain isn’t suitable to our skill set and we should be more proactive style of football
Nick Symonds
Guest
"In the past, the Olympics have developed and created a lot of national team players for the Socceroos and that was the reason I took this job on. It was to do that and I do feel I walk away from here with much more depth now for the Socceroos." - Graham Arnold
NoMates
Roar Rookie
He fked up in the Olympics but has so far done well in World Cup qualifying, I think he will get Australia through but he needs to select the best squad not just mates of mates.
Tim Carter
Roar Pro
I get the feeling that this will end with an "agree to disagree" sentiment because it's a philosophical argument. But playing specifically for the 0-0 requires teams to maintain their shape, nullifying their counterattacking opportunities, which allows their opponents to work into their patterns and control the pace of the game. I get that 0-0 would've been a success for the Olyroos (and every other side ever in a similar situation) had they achieved it, but you need to really a high level of discipline and structure to manage it, along with the right players. Playing for the win, in my mind, is more likely to result in finishing with the 0-0 than actually playing for the 0-0.