‘Perfect’ Asian Cup step as Socceroos claim win in ‘physical’ test
Socceroos coach Graham Arnold rated his team’s 2-0 defeat of Bahrain as the “perfect” preparation for Australia’s Asian Cup campaign, which starts next Saturday night against India.
An own goal from Bahrain defender Amine Benaddi and a Mitch Duke header secured the Socceroos victory in their Asian Cup warm-up clash in Abu Dhabi.
“It was a great hitout,” Arnold told Paramount +.
“It was quite a physical game, and playing against these types of nations, (and) how they sit back, as much as you can do presentations and train and get ready for it, it’s always great to play against opposition that play that way.
“It was the perfect game that we could have had leading into the Asian Cup.”
Arnold gave Perth-born, Wales-raised Bolton Wanderers defender Gethin Jones his Socceroos debut, playing him at right-back in a starting back four that also included Cameron Burgess, Harry Souttar and Jordan Bos.
Midfielder Jackson Irvine captained the team in the absence of regular skipper, goalkeeper Mat Ryan, who is yet to fully recover from a fractured cheekbone he suffered last month,
Ryan’s unavailability also allowed Adelaide United gloveman Joe Gauci to earn his second Socceroos cap.
Apart from one sharp save in the second half, Gauci was rarely called into action against a Bahrain side that hardly threatened the Socceroos.
“These types of nations, especially against us, they always sit back and they always try to hit us on the counter attack,” Arnold said.
“It was important that we had our rest defence strong, that we didn’t bomb too many players forward and get caught out on the break.
“They only had one shot at goal for the whole game, which is good.”
In attack, the Socceroos were at times clunky but that didn’t stop them taking the
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