‘Not good enough’: Socceroos searching for answers after Gold Coast nightmare

Socceroos players shared some “harsh truths” in the sheds after their shocking 1-0 World Cup qualifying defeat to Bahrain on Thursday night, which coach Graham Arnold has attributed to a combination of bad luck, missed opportunities and naivety.

It was supposed to be a relatively simple outing to start the third round of Asian qualification, but it ended up as a night of historical lows for the Socceroos, who were reduced to 10 men late in the second half at Cbus Super Stadium on the Gold Coast and then conceded an 89th-minute own goal which deflected in off Harry Souttar.

Mitchell Duke reacts after full-time.Credit: Getty Images

Not since 2006 has Australia’s defence been breached by Bahrain; in six meetings, this was the first time the world’s No.80-ranked outfit had ever taken points off them. It was also just the second defeat for Australia in a live World Cup qualifier on home soil since 1981. The other was against Japan two years ago, a result that ended their chances of direct qualification for Qatar 2022 and almost cost Arnold his job.

While it’s still early on the road to the 2026 tournament, the meek nature of Australia’s performance and the re-emergence of old problems immediately cast doubt on the team’s ability to deal with the even tougher challenges ahead and qualify directly for the World Cup, at least in this third round.

Football Australia chairman Anter Isaac and chief executive James Johnson watched on in the room as Arnold faced the music at his post-match press conference, in which he pushed back on suggestions that the team’s continued attacking struggles are down to systemic tactical issues.

“I know you guys love carrying on about breaking down teams. You’ve got to respect the opposition with their defence,” Arnold said.

“I think they prepared very well. They’ve been here for 10 days, and you could see physically, they were ready for us. It was just one of those nights where, when we did have the occasions, we didn’t put the ball in the back of the net. We’ve learnt from past years we need to do that.”

The Socceroos’ lack of imagination and intensity played into Bahrain’s hands. They sat back and defended in numbers, restricting Australia to four shots on target despite the Socceroos having 71 per cent of possession, dealing easily with an ongoing flurry of crosses, long balls and set pieces. Despite seeing all that ball, and for all their territorial dominance, the Socceroos managed just 20 touches inside their attacking penalty area – an all too familiar story in the Australian game.

“They obviously parked the bus, and they had six at the back, and they had numbers,” Arnold said.

“Hopefully, you see that Bahrain physically, big, strong team. That was one of the things that we always had over those type of nations. But the creativity is down … I think we’ve got the quality, the quality is there, but you’ve got to give credit to Bahrain.”

Graham Arnold has overseen Australia’s only two losses in live World Cup qualifiers since 1981.Credit: Getty Images

Incessant diving, play-acting and feigning of injury from Bahraini players also got under Australia’s skin and led to the ball being in play for just 46 minutes of the match, while Kusini Yengi’s 77th-minute red card for an accidental high foot gave the visitors a late glimmer of hope, which they seized.

Such antics are not new for the Socceroos in Asia, but they are new to some younger players, and Arnold said they had to absorb those lessons quickly, a warning his senior players echoed.

“Not good enough. I felt like we were too naive in the way we played the game,” captain Maty Ryan said.

“I don’t think it’s a case of needing to work harder, but needing to work smarter. We didn’t ask enough of the right questions in the right areas. We gave the goalkeeper a pretty quiet night and didn’t test him … defensively, obviously the goal we conceded after the red card is not good enough. But those things happen if you’re not doing the other things well enough, and you put yourself in that scenario.

Australia and Bahrain let fly at each other.Credit: Getty Images

“We’ve spoken many a time of the challenges this sort of opposition bring us. If you don’t get that early goal, then the time-wasting comes into it. We’ve got to deal with those situations better and more maturely as a team, and we’ve got to not put ourselves in a situation where that becomes a factor.”

After Japan’s whopping 7-0 win over China, the Socceroos are already three points adrift of the likely pacesetters in Group C, and must now prepare for a clash on Tuesday night against Indonesia, who will be backed by an 80,000-strong crowd in Jakarta and emboldened by how Bahrain’s approach stifled their creativity.

“A few harsh truths,” said midfielder Jackson Irvine, when asked what players had been speaking about in the dressing room after half-time.

“It’s a combination of understanding the reality of the situation now, and also recognising that we’ve got an absolutely massive game on Tuesday night, and we have to react very, very quickly. We have to learn the lessons from this immediately ... it’s an unbelievably disappointing result and performance, and we need to be far better.”

Souttar said no Australian player could look at themselves in the mirror and say they played at their maximum.

“We’ve got quality players in the attacking third. I don’t want to keep saying, ‘Oh, it’s difficult to make chances’ ... we normally do,” he said.

“We’ve just got to find a way, as simple as that.”

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