SOCCEROOS RAMP UP ASIAN CUP PREPARATION WITH GRITTY WIN OVER BAHRAIN
The Socceroos have officially kickstarted the preparations for the upcoming Asian Cup later in January with a tight 2-0 win over Bahrain in the UAE.
Coach Graham Arnold took the opportunity to bleed some new faces into the squad, with the most notable debut being Bolton Wanderers star Gethin Jones.
Midfielder Jackson Irvine took the armband in place of injured skipper Maty Ryan, as his availability for the tournament remains in doubt.
Despite could be a seen as a disappointing showing in a warmup game, Arnold saw plenty of positives from the clash.
“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. “These types of nations, especially against us, they always sit back and they always try to hit us on the counter attack.
“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.”
The Socceroos opening the scoring after a Craig Goodwin cross deflected in off Bahrain defender Amine Benaddi, shortly before the former Adelaide United winger setup Mitch Duke for the second.
“I made a number of changes, and used players that hadn’t played for quite a while,” Arnold added.
“It just shows you that (with) those six boys I brought on, how much depth we are creating and building.
“That’s pretty much what I’ve been trying to do for the last four years as well, build depth for the Socceroos because of the old age group that we had.
“You can see some of the younger boys that are coming on, they’re doing well, (and) they’ve got that experience.”
Australia faces India in its first game of the Asian Cup group stage on January 13th in Qatar.
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