Australia coach Graham Arnold
Doha, Qatar: Graham Arnold praised the Socceroos’ forward line after Australia moved into the quarter-finals of the AFC Asian Cup Qatar 2023 on Sunday with a 4-0 win over Indonesia to set up a last eight meeting with either Saudi Arabia or South Korea.
Jackson Irvine’s strike was deflected into his own net by Elkan Baggott in the 12th minute, with Martin Boyle, Craig Goodwin and Harry Souttar also on target for the 2015 champions.
The win means Australia have maintained their record of reaching at least the last eight of the competition at every tournament since joining the Asian Football Confederation in 2006 and Arnold paid tribute to the improving fortunes of his team’s strike force.
“Credit to Indonesia, they made it tough for us,” said Arnold. “Physically they were very big and strong and it was a tough game, but the quality that we have got up front came through today and stuff that we’ve been working on in training with the attacking combinations worked.
“The boys are starting to believe more and more in it and it’s working.
“(The game was) exactly what we showed the boys, to be ready for a fight, to be ready for a physical battle because that’s what Indonesia is going to bring. We expected that.
“We can do better in every aspect. We’ll do a review to see what we can do better because we always want to be positive with things.”
Indonesia matched the Australians throughout the opening exchanges, even after Irvine’s strike was redirected into his own goal by Baggott, but it was Boyle’s diving header in the final minute of the first half that swung the game the Socceroos’ way.
Australia were rarely troubled after the interval although goals in the 89th and 91st minutes from Goodwin and Souttar respectively were cruel blows for a gallant Team Garuda.
“If I assess the performance of our team, today’s match was our best in the last four games,” said Indonesia head coach Shin Tae-yong.
“If we hadn’t conceded that kind of unlucky own goal the whole game would’ve been different.
“In the context of the game we really didn’t play badly. That was a shame. Regardless of the four goals we conceded I’d like to thank the players and I’m very happy with the performance of my team.
“We lost because there’s a level of difference, experience and concentration, but someday we’re going to play at a similar level against Australia.”
While Arnold was able to celebrate the win and Australia’s progress, he will be left to monitor the fitness of full-back Gethin Jones (pictured above), who was removed from the field clutching his groin with more than 20 minutes remaining.
“Gethin has gone straight to hospital for a scan,” said Arnold. “So we will know the answer to that in the next 24 hours. It is what it is, it’s unfortunate for him.”
