A glittering football journey — from Marrickville to Liege, Gosford to Baghdad — nothing has quite defined the 45-year rollercoaster of Graham Arnold’s career quite like the World Cup.
The tournament has meant everything to the Australian football great, who was a central figure in the Socceroos’ barren years and its most painful near-misses, before taking up a role in another nation’s own brutal quest.
Watch the biggest Aussie sports & the best from overseas LIVE on Kayo Sports | New to Kayo? Join now and get your first month for just $1.
Now, a new World Cup chapter will be written for Arnold — and it might finally deliver him the global credit he deserves.
Arnold is this week being celebrated by the football world for leading Iraq back to the FIFA World Cup for the first time in 40 years.
The nation gained passage via a 2-1 victory over Bolivia, marking the second-straight time that Arnold has led a nation to the tournament through a playoff.
Now, for a figure who has been repeatedly turned away from big club jobs in England, overdue recognition of his coaching abilities is beginning to emerge.
READ MORE
WRAP: Italy in ‘worst nightmare’ repeat, Arnie leads World Cup miracle as Socceroos’ group of death locked
GROUP OF DEATH? Socceroos’ full World Cup group confirmed as Aussie holdout dealt brutal reality check
“Great to see Graham Arnold doing so well. Good coach, great company and very, very competitive,” renowned football journalist Henry Winter wrote.
“Very good coach in his own right. Yet overlooked for English vacancies down the years, including Millwall, Bolton and Norwich. His managerial record warranted greater consideration. A-League legend. And since.”
Legend commentator Derek Rae was among those to put Arnold’s name in the spotlight for the football world to take notice.
“Graham Arnold deserves this one. A super bloke and very good, underrated coach,” Rae wrote.
“Huge achievement to have turned around Iraq‘s fortunes in such a short space of time and guided them to the World Cup. Congratulations Arnie.”
Arnold long-struggled to garner greater respect abroad, with knowledge of his legend, and incredible service to the game, largely confined to these shores.
While Ange Postecoglou rocketed to global prominence with his trophy-winning stints at Celtic and Spurs, Arnold remained under the radar.
And yet, he could well be the second-greatest managerial export from these shores — and it’s largely thanks to the World Cup.
Get all the latest football news, highlights and analysis delivered straight to your inbox with Fox Sports Sportmail. Sign up now!!!
In gaining qualification for Iraq, he becomes the first Australian to ever coach at back-to-back World Cups.
He is also the first-ever Australian to coach a foreign nation at the tournament, while no coach had taken Iraq to football’s greatest showcase since Mexico 1986.
Fitting, then, that it was in Monterrey, Mexico where Iraq downed Bolivia to spark wild celebrations that included Arnold being hoisted on players’ shoulders and showered in the locker rooms.
But there were full circles to draw from the victory for Arnold, too.
Arnold never stepped foot on the football field himself at a World Cup. He endured the Socceroos’ bitter, unforgettable near-misses for the 1994 and 1998 editions.
In 1993, Australia went to Buenos Aires 1-1 on aggregate against Diego Maradona’s Argentina, but fell short of qualification after a 1-0 defeat in the second-leg.
Four years later, Arnold was in tears in the middle of the MCG after Iran struck twice in the final 20-minutes of the two-leg qualifier to deny Australia again.
Arnold wouldn’t get another chance as a player, retiring in 2000, but he would eventually go to the World Cup as Guus Hiddink’s assistant in 2006.
Riding the wave of good-feeling from the tournament, in which Australia reached the Round of 16, Arnold took the reins from Hiddink into the following year’s Asian Cup.
Australia headed into that tournament — its first-ever in the Asian confederation — as a firm favourite, but the bubble burst following a 3-1 humbling in the group stage.
The nation to deal that brutal reality check to Arnold?
Iraq.
Australia was ultimately bundled out in a quarter-final penalty shootout against Japan, while the Socceroos’ Dutch obsession was only just beginning as they turned to Pim Verbeek as Hiddink’s full-time replacement.
Arnold was then overlooked by Bolton and Norwich City, and didn’t emerge as club manager again until February 2010, when he was signed by Central Coast Mariners.
Those English snubs have been put back in the spotlight by Arnold’s achievement with Iraq with the British media championing the Australian’s success.
That has included multiple references to the Socceroos’ famous 2003 defeat of England, in which Arnold also played a role as assistant to Frank Farina.
Arnold once recalled that he overheard an explosive argument between David Beckham and then Three Lions coach Sven Goran Eriksson, who said he would change his entire XI at halftime to experiment.
“That p***ed our players off,” Arnold once told The Times. “‘Who the hell does he think he is? Does he think we’re s***?’
“We grew the narrative as coaches, ‘look, they have no respect for us’. The Aussie mentality kicked in.
“We walked up the tunnel and all you could hear was (Beckham) going to Sven, ‘we’re not f***ing coming off’.
“‘We can’t be down to 2-0 at halftime and come off’. Sven still changed the whole team.”
Iraq plot ‘shock’ as famous win seals World Cup return after 40 years
Meanwhile, Arnold challenged his players to “shock the world” after Iraq became the 48th and final team to qualify for the World Cup.
Iraq, whose preparations were disrupted by the war in the Middle East, sealed their first appearance at the finals in 40 years and will play in Group I against France, Senegal and Norway.
Goals from Ali Al-Hamadi and Aymen Hussein secured a famous win for Iraq, whose last appearance at the World Cup came at Mexico in 1986.
“I am so happy that we’ve made 46 million people happy. With everything going on in the Middle East at the moment it made it harder for the players,” said the Australian Arnold, who had initially sought to have the fixture postponed due to the disruption caused by the conflict.
“Delighted for the players, very good boys, very happy for the 46 million Iraqis,” he added.
“Hopefully it will help change the perception of Iraq and the football in Iraq. Doing something in the World Cup nobody expects us to do.
“Let’s shock the world.”
Because of travel disruption caused by the US-Israel war on Iran, most of the Iraqi squad only reached Mexico after a gruelling three-day journey from Baghdad that began with an overland crossing into Jordan.
But there was little sign of weariness during a confident start by Iraq, who took the lead after nine minutes through Luton Town striker Al-Hamadi — the 24-year-old who moved to Liverpool as a toddler following the outbreak of the 2003 Iraq war.
Iraq midfielder Amir Al-Ammari won a corner after a superb free-kick that was saved at full stretch from Bolivia goalkeeper Guillermo Viscarra.
From the subsequent set piece Al-Ammari curled a pinpoint corner on to the head of Al-Hamadi who nodded home for 1-0.
Iraq were well worth the early goal and looked in control until Bolivia, who had gradually grown into the game, equalised after 38 minutes.
World Cup Wrap: Turkiye book clash v AUS | 02:53
Ramiro Vaca’s shot from the edge of the area was controlled with one touch by Moises Paniagua and the Morocco-based central midfielder swept into the roof of the net.
The goal stunned Iraq and Bolivia looked likely to grab a second after dominating the remainder of the half.
Iraq regained the lead eight minutes after the break, when a long ball forward was nodded into the path of substitute Marko Lawk-Farji.
His cross found captain Hussein and the veteran striker clipped a first-time finish into the bottom corner.
Bolivia pressed frantically for a goal to force extra-time, but Iraq’s well-marshalled defence held firm during nine minutes of stoppage time.
The 62-year-old Arnold, who took Australia to the last 16 of the Qatar World Cup in 2022, said: “We have two months to get fit.
“For us to do something at this World Cup would be a miracle.” Oscar Villegas, the Bolivia coach, was visibly distraught.
“Devastated, totally devastated because we believed we could be at the World Cup,” he said.
Discussion about this post