Coach Graham Arnold (60), who led Australia to the World Cup last 16 in 16 years, will lead the Australian national team for another 4 years.
On the 30th (hereinafter Korean time), the Australian Football Association said, “We have extended the contract with coach Arnold until the 2026 World Cup in the United States-Canada-Mexico.” Foreign media such as the AP and Reuters reported that “Arnold became the first coach in history to lead the Australian national team for four more years.”
Coach Arnold became the first national team coach to succeed in consecutive terms since former coach Frank Farina (2000-2005). However, it is the first time that he has been guaranteed a four-year contract.
Arnold’s first goal is the Asian Cup in Qatar in January 2024. The 2026 World Cup qualifiers kick off in November.
In fact, at the beginning of last year, director Arnold’s future was uneasy. It was because they were pushed out of the 2022 Qatar World Cup Asian Region Group B by Saudi Arabia and Japan to third place and were pushed into the intercontinental playoffs. Fortunately, in June of last year, they defeated Peru in a penalty shootout and managed to win a ticket to the finals, reviving the article.
However, Australia, which had been sluggish in Asia, showed a 180 degree different appearance in the finals. They lost to France 1-4 in the first match of group D, but advanced to the round of 16 by beating Tunisia and Denmark in succession. ‘Salty water soccer’ worked. Unfortunately, they met Argentina in the round of 16 and lost 1-2, but the Australian Football Association decided to take over the leadership of the national team for four more years in recognition of Arnold’s leadership.
“I love Australia and I love Australian football. You can’t talk about joy, pride and achievement without football,” Arnold told the Football Association of Australia. “The desire to seduce the head coach has never been stronger. Just as I wanted to bring more smiles to the fans in Qatar, I will give more to Australian football.” 스포츠토토
Meanwhile, coach Arnold almost sat at the command tower of FC Seoul at the end of 2020, when he was holding the baton of the Australian national team. In fact, Seoul put director Arnold on the list of candidates and conducted a video interview. Seoul held negotiations with manager Arnold, who received a high score, but showed a difference in detailed coordination and finally declared a ‘negotiation breakdown’.