Coach Graham Arnold said on Monday he refuses to even mention the word France, let alone any of their players, as outsiders Australia prepare for their World Cup opener against the reigning champions in Qatar. Even without Ballon d’Or winner Karim Benzema, midfielders Paul Pogba and N’Golo Kante and central defender Presnel Kimpembe, France is full of world stars led by Kylian Mbappé. But Arnold doesn’t want his players to be impressed by illustrious opponents and has tried to present the French as faceless positions with specific strengths and attributes rather than star individuals.
“It’s not disrespectful at all, but I’ve barely mentioned the word France and I’ve barely mentioned players’ names,” said the Socceroos coach.
“They all play positions, the players know who they are, but it’s about identifying the strengths of those players and it’s one against one.
“There are 10 blue shirts against 10 yellow shirts and it’s a fight.”
Captain and goalkeeper Mathew Ryan said it was about finding the right balance in their approach.
Sponsored by Vukle
“The biggest focus for us was the mentality and the guys have understood the mentality: we go into every game, whoever we play against, with the right amount of respect,” he said.
“We don’t underestimate anyone or respect anyone too much and that’s a real challenge.”
‘Chance to change life’
French centre-back Ibrahima Konate admitted last week that he doesn’t even know the names of the Australian players, and Arnold is determined to change that on a full-time basis on Tuesday.
“Our job is to go out tomorrow and show them who we are as a nation,” said Arnold of the Group D clash.
“The players have that stage, it’s their stage and this is an opportunity in life that can change your life even more than what they have now.”
Arnold pointed to the example of winger Martin Boyle, who was ruled out of the World Cup on Sunday with a knee injury, as a reason for his players to seize the opportunity.
“A lot of players don’t even get one chance. All I would say is every player should look at Martin Boyle today and realize how lucky they are to be here and walk away from it.”
Running fast is the bare minimum that Arnold expects from his players.
“I have banned the word ‘tired’ and the words ‘pain’,” he added.
“This is the World Cup, there’s no such thing as being tired after a game or tired or a little sore and stiff: recover quickly and keep going!”
One problem Australia will not face is Ballon d’Or winner Benzema, who has been ruled out due to a thigh problem.
But Arnold said he would have preferred to see the prolific Real Madrid forward in Qatar.
“I’m disappointed that he’s not playing because it’s a great experience to play against the world player of the year, but that’s the way it is.”
(This story has not been edited by DailyExpertNews staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Featured video of the day
Very happy with my performance: Manika Batra at Asian Cup Bronze
Topics mentioned in this article