From Maradona to Messi: Arnold’s Socceroos journey comes full circle

Doha: Time is a flat circle, in the middle of a rectangular field of dreams. It’s the only way to make sense of Graham Arnold’s journey as a Socceroo, the heartbreak he suffered as a player, the unbridled joy he has now brought to the nation as a coach, and the line of destiny that links both parts of his footballing life together.

In 1993, a curly-haired Arnold played up front for Australia in a two-legged World Cup qualifying tie against Argentina, whose biggest threat was a diminutive left-footed wizard named Diego Maradona.

In 2022, Arnold — older, wiser and balder — has engineered one of Australian sport’s greatest modern storylines. His Socceroos have defied all odds and rewritten history to reach the World Cup’s round of 16 against Argentina, whose biggest threat just happens to be another diminutive left-footed wizard, this time named Lionel Messi.

“It’s just so crazy how similar they are — left footers, same style,” said Arnold.

“They’re both incredible players and to compare different generations, it’s all too hard, but I think probably they go down as two of the greatest players ever in my lifetime.”

Maradona was in the twilight of his epic career when he faced the Socceroos, his magnetic presence turning Sydney into the centre of the football universe for two weeks in October, almost 30 years ago. Argentina escaped from the old SFS with a 1-1 draw, and then won 1-0 in the return leg in Buenos Aires to book their spot at the 1994 World Cup in the United States at Australia’s expense.

Graham Arnold’s career with the Socceroos is coming full circle.Credit: Getty

Arnold and his teammates look back at that time with great fondness, but conceded they got too caught up in the hype surrounding Maradona and lost sight of what was at stake for themselves. It can’t happen again, even if Arnold fully appreciates how the Socceroos have once more become tangled in a footballing fairytale of international and historical significance.

“This is a dream come true, playing against Lionel Messi at a World Cup,” Arnold said.

Asked if he could split Messi and Maradona, he couldn’t, evoking the Old El Paso tagline: Porque no los dos?

The one thing that separates them is this: Maradona won it in 1986. Messi never has. Now 35, he has won every trophy and accolade imaginable, but this is his fifth World Cup and almost certainly his last chance to get his hands on that one remaining piece of unreachable silverware. The planet is almost collectively willing for it to happen, and finally, he is part of a harmonious team that looks capable of delivering.

Argentina’s captain Maradona holds up the World Cup after his side beat West Germany in the 1986 final.Credit: AP

Yes, they suffered a first-up shock defeat to Saudi Arabia, which snapped their unbeaten run of 36 matches, but the response has been strong: Argentina is peaking at the right time, coming into the knockout phase off back-to-back 2-0 wins over Mexico and Poland, which put them top of Group C.

The former was a scratchy performance, but Messi’s 64th-minute goal relieved the pressure on them; they were vastly improved in the latter, overcoming a missed penalty kick by Messi in the first half with the ultimate flex, a slick 37-pass move that yielded their second goal.

Enter 11 boxing, ball-playing kangaroos, primed to spoil the party.

“We’re not going to Buenos Aires this time,” Arnold grinned, although it may feel like they are: Argentinian fans are everywhere in Doha, and many are Messi-obsessed migrant workers who have latched onto them as their team.

Do the Socceroos have a successful strategy in store for Messi? Does such a thing even exist? Not according to his former coach at Paris Saint-Germain, Mauricio Pochettino. “It is impossible to stop him,” he said this week on talkSPORT.

You can try to starve Messi of the ball, or of space, but it’s inevitable he’ll find both, somewhere, somehow. That’s what he does. Australia’s best course of action is to probably just ask big Harry Souttar to chant ‘fee, fi, fo, fum’ for 90 minutes and hope for the best.

“The thing is if you focus too much on Messi, then you’re forgetting about the other players,” Arnold said, addressing a mistake he said Poland were guilty of making. “Nearest player, pick him up. It’s not just about stopping him, they’ve also got some very good players as well other than him.”

The challenge, as it was against Denmark, is to find the energy to get right up in the opponent’s faces, as often as possible, and give them no room to play. It worked against Denmark and Christian Eriksen, who had little to no impact after the Socceroos braved the first few waves of first-half attacks. It might just work against Argentina, so long as there’s luck on their side and petrol still in the tank.

Argentinian supporters show their love for Lionel Messi - and for the late Diego Maradona.Credit: AP

Easier said than done in this tournament, which has been condensed by FIFA to fit it into this mid-season window and avoid the worst of the Qatari heat in the middle of the year, when World Cups are usually played.

It’s much cooler now in Doha, but the players are clearly knackered — and particularly Australia’s, since Arnold has fielded an almost identical starting XI for three consecutive games in nine days. Assuming everyone pulls up fit, he’ll probably do it again.

Graham Arnold in 1993.Credit: Fairfax Media

After knocking off the Danes, striker Mitchell Duke said he was ready to play another 90 minutes there and then, such was the adrenaline running through his veins. But the very next day, his teammate Milos Degenek was complaining that players are “not robots” and needed longer than a mere 76-hour break between games. Argentina’s coach Lionel Scaloni — speaking in the early hours of Thursday morning (local time) after their win over Poland — said what was being asked of his players was “madness”.

As far as Arnold is concerned, it’s the same for both sides, and won’t be used an excuse. “They’re in the same position as us, we’ve just mentally got to get ourselves ready,” he said, repositioning the discussion back onto familiar terrain: the brain.

Arnold has publicly raged against his players spending too much time on social media after matches, but he knows how to leverage it when he needs to. For two matches in a row, the Socceroos have walked off the field victorious, grabbed their phones and watched the jubilant scenes unfold at Federation Square, where the Melbourne sky has been turned blood-red by dozens of flares waved by tens of thousands of diehards.

It’s often said Australia doesn’t have a proper football culture. That’s wrong. We do, and the national team coach is using it to fuel his players at the World Cup.

“You can, if you don’t see it, be wondering, ‘What’s it like back at home?’ And to see all that just gives the players a lot of energy,” Arnold said.

“After the game, the boys were really quite emotional, Jackson Irvine was completely in tears, and it was about the fans, it was about his family back in Melbourne watching them being proud.

PROJECTED STARTING TEAMS:

Australia (4-2-3-1): Ryan; Degenek, Souttar, Rowles, Behich; Mooy, Irvine; Leckie, McGree, Goodwin; Duke.

Argentina (4-3-1-2): Martinez; Otamendi, Molina, Romero, Acuna; De Paul, Mac Allister, Fernandez; Messi; Di Maria, Alvarez.

“There’s only one team that unites a nation, and one sport, and it’s football in Australia and the Socceroos. I’m not being negative here, but the Rugby League World Cup was just on. Was Federation Square like that, or the pubs like that? They don’t play AFL anywhere else in the world except for Australia. So it just shows you how big football can be.”

The day before the Denmark win, at his official pre-match press conference, Arnold was reminded of another of his most painful memories: November 29 was the 25th anniversary of the Socceroos’ catastrophe against Iran at the MCG. On that darkest of nights, Arnold had three clear-cut chances to score the match-winner and put Australia into the World Cup for the first time since 1974. He failed.

“Thanks for ruining my day,” Arnold told the journalist who raised it.

The guilt surely stuck in his gut for years, but now he’s free. He’s the mastermind of Australia’s best World Cup, his status as a legend of the game entrenched forever.

Graham Arnold after the Socceroos’ 1997 loss to Iran.Credit: Tim Clayton

But he’s not done yet.

“I don’t think anyone expected us even win a game here, and then to win two in one World Cup was amazing,” he said.

“But as I said to the boys this morning: ‘You don’t get these opportunities often in life, so what are you going to do about it? Let it ride, or are you going to do something more special? When you go home, you’ve got time to rest, you’ve got time to think about things and remember those things, but this is now, this is real. Let’s give it our best shot.’”

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