Arnold: Australia should be very proud of the players

Socceroos coach Graham Arnold says Australian football supporters should be proud of how the team played in its penalty shootout loss to Japan, after playing 45 minutes with 10 men in conditions he described as murderous.

Socceroos coach Graham Arnold says Australian football supporters should be proud of how the team played in its penalty shootout loss to Japan, after playing 45 minutes with 10 men in conditions he described as murderous.

In conditions that were hotter and more humid than in Bangkok, Australia defended bravely during this period, limiting Japan to few chances at goal and succeeding in getting to the penalty shootout.

However it was not be Australia-s night in the penalty shoot-out, with Japan-s keeper Yoshikatsu Kawaguchi saving Harry Kewell-s and Lucas Neill-s opening two penalty kicks that eventually saw them win 4-3.

“I was extremely proud of the players because of the performance they put in these conditions,” Arnold said at the after match press conference. “We were a man short for a long time and they worked very hard and I couldn-t be more proud.”

“It was a good performance, but Japan are a good side. Tactically we were ready for them. People may say it-s an excuse, but the conditions are harsh for us. I was happy and we defended very well.”

The turning point came with Vince Grella-s send-off with 15 minutes remaining for an apparent swinging elbow on Japan goalscorer Takahara.

“The red card was unexpected. In these conditions to play with 10-men, it-s murder when the players aren-t used to it, but the whole of Australia should be very proud of the players,” Arnold added.

“They gave everything they had. We had to defend a lot because of the extra man; it-s always hard to play with 10-men against a quality side like Japan.

“I was confident going into the penalty shootout because Schwarzer has got a great record and we had practised penalties a couple of times over the last few days just in case, but penalty shootouts are a lottery. We had a history in penalty shootouts after the victory over Uruguay, now this, so I guess you can say it-s 1-1.”

Arnold said prior to the tournament that anything less than a place in the semi finals would considered a failure and he reiterated that stance. As a whole the tournament has been one to forget for Arnold and the team, but he is adamant that valuable lessons have been learned for the future.

"The expectations I put on the team were semi-finals minimum and so obviously it-s below expectations," he said.

“This is the toughest loss I have suffered in my coaching career, guaranteed. We have done a lot of work to get where we are and I think the players responded. Our form wasn-t great in the first two games, but I thought we showed a huge improvement over the four games.

“We have learned a lot in the last couple of weeks, most importantly that Asia is very difficult. It-s shown the players that the road ahead is going to be very difficult and it-s also shown the people at home and Football Australia that we are going to have 12 World Cup qualifiers to qualify for the World Cup in conditions and surroundings like this when all of our players are going to be playing in Europe.

"It-s going to be very difficult.”