AFC Asian Cup 2019: Australia was not arrogant against Jordan, claims Graham Arnold

After his side suffered a shock Asian Cup defeat to Jordan, Australia coach Graham Arnold defended his confident pre-match comments.

Published : Jan 06, 2019 23:28 IST

Graham Arnold's Australia was beaten 1-0 by Jordan in its opening Asian Cup match.
Graham Arnold's Australia was beaten 1-0 by Jordan in its opening Asian Cup match.
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Graham Arnold's Australia was beaten 1-0 by Jordan in its opening Asian Cup match.

Australia coach Graham Arnold defended his pre-match prediction of victory after his side was beaten 1-0 by Jordan in its AFC Asian Cup 2019 opener.

The Socceroos' bid to defend its title was handed a blow on Sunday, as Anas Bani Yaseen's first-half header caused an upset in Group B.

READ | Asian Cup 2019: Jordan stuns champion Australia in Group B opener

Arnold had forecast a win for Australia in his news conference ahead of the game, but his side will now need to bounce back against Palestine in its next outing. However, Arnold - who is in his second spell in charge of the national team – insists his pre-match comments were not a sign of arrogance.

"That's a translation difference. It's not arrogance, it's belief," he told a news conference.

"It's not arrogance at all. Those words are used a lot in Australia and in Australia it's not considered arrogant."

Australia dominated much of the game at Hazza Bin Zayed Stadium, but lacked a cutting edge up front. Without the goals of the retired Tim Cahill to call on, captain Mark Milligan has highlighted the need for a more patient and clinical approach.

"We can be a little bit more patient but sometimes it's hard to maintain your patience when a team is sitting in so deep and giving you that ball to play," he told Fox Sports .

"We need to settle down and keep our composure. The good thing is we kept going until the end. We'll work on things and we'll be alright. We know we have to be better if we want to progress and succeed in this tournament. I still think there are good signs in the way we want to play but we need to execute better."

RELATED | AFC Asian Cup 2019: Chhetri scores brace as India stuns Thailand 4-1

Jordan put in a disciplined defensive display, but also troubled Mat Ryan on several occasions. Coach Vital Borkelmans believes Australia was complacent in its approach, pointing to Arnold's comments as evidence.

"It's very, very dangerous to talk like this," Borkelmans told reporters. "I said many times to my players, guys, nobody knows. You saw it at the World Cup, big teams lost to small countries."

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