The Socceroos‘ dramatic fall from grace in Asian qualifying was completed on Wednesday morning, as they slumped to a meek 1-0 defeat against Saudi Arabia.
Having already been beaten by Japan last week, the game was a dead rubber for an Australian side that should have been eager to impress after a limp showing in Sydney last week.
Despite a couple of good chances and some VAR intervention, Australia again failed to find the back of the net with the only goal coming midway through the second half; Salem Al-Dawsari converting a penalty after James Jeggo fouled Sami Al-Najei.
READ MORE: Smith, Slater, Thurston reunite to haunt Blues
READ MORE: ‘Deluded’ Root urged to quit captaincy
READ MORE: Mercedes: ‘No way’ car will be competitive soon
READ MORE: Franklin re-united with milestone ball
“We started the game well, we had a midfield, and that seemed to disappear in the second half,” former Socceroo Archie Thompson said afterwards.
“There was just no organisation.”
Despite plenty of noise surrounding his future, and with many fans clamouring for Graham Arnold to be replaced, the coach said before the game that he hadn’t spoken with Football Australia and its CEO James Johnson amid reports his future as the man in charge could be over.
Thompson said he thought the coach was getting increasingly desperate with tactical moves during recent games.
“It was almost Graham Arnold going ‘I’ve tried everything else, I’m gonna try something different’, and it hasn’t worked. And it’s not working still,” he said.
Australia began the final stage of qualifying on fire, winning each of their first three games – before winning just one of their last seven.
Graham Arnold’s men swiftly went from looking like they’d comfortably qualify for Qatar to barely scraping into the inter-continental play-offs, pipping Oman to third by a solitary point.
Australia’s fate will now be decided over the course of a week in June, with two sudden death play-off games standing between them and one of the last spots at the World Cup.
Unlike previous qualification cycles where these ties were settled home and away over two legs, COVID-related logistical issues forced FIFA to make these single-leg games on a neutral field – in this case, Qatar will be the venue.
The Socceroos will now face UAE on June 7th, with the winner advancing to play the fifth-placed South American team, which will be either Peru, Colombia, or Chile a week later.