Graham Arnold’s Christmas Day may not be full of festive cheer after the Aussie head coach dropped his son-in-law from the Socceroos squad heading to the FIFA World Cup in Qatar.
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The wily 59-year-old is no stranger to controversy this year, having copped a hefty fine for taking a stroll on the beach when he was supposed to be self-isolating with Covid in March.
But he has now raised a few eyebrows with the omission of Qatar-based veteran defender Trent Sainsbury, married to his daughter Elissa. This decision appears to be as risky as it is courageous.
The Socceroos always spark the imagination of the nation whenever they tackle the World Cup finals, and are back for the fifth time on the spin by the skin of their teeth.
Arnold realises that playing on the world’s biggest stage is going to leave him and his players firmly under the microscope, and earlier in the year the knives were out to give him the boot after a pitiful run of just one win in seven World Cup qualifiers.
He’s been busy making fans optimistic about progressing from their group. Their gutsy 1-1 stalemate against Denmark at 2018 Russia does give the Socceroos plenty of promise when they tackle the Danes, defending champions France and Tunisia in Group G.
Australia face France and Denmark in group games for the second tournament on the bounce
As the heat and humidity in Qatar suits the Ozzie squad, then their odds to qualify from their group has been slashed by LeoVegas to 4/1. France are a 1/16 shot to make the knockout stages, in-form Denmark at 2/5 ahead of Tunisia at 3/1.
The state-of-the-art US$700m Al-Janoud Stadium in Al-Wakrah will play host to all three of Australia’s group games. For those who fancy the Socceroos to make an impression at Qatar 2022, then it is worth checking out match by match odds with some of the best online bookmakers for FIFA World Cup betting, such as Unibet and bet365.
The Socceroos qualifiers were thrown into mayhem in March, because just days before the crucial clash with Japan Arnold caught Covid.
Although he was meant to be self-isolating, the no-nonsense coach decided to breach the rules by walking along the beach to gather his thoughts. But he was caught out, with the Australian FA slapping him with a AUS$25k (£14k) fine as punishment.
After the Socceroos were torn apart by Japan, with Arnold at home rather than on the bench, Australia’s dream was in tatters of making it to the winter tournament in March.
Despite fans calling for Arnold’s head, he miraculously navigated his fighting troops past Saudi Arabia and then Peru on a penalty shoot-out to book their berth at the world’s biggest stage in Qatar.
However, even his intercontinental winner-takes-all showdown at the Ahmad Bin Ali Stadium in Qatar proved controversial.
With penalties required to determine who would be involved in the highly lucrative World Cup finals, Arnold surprisingly swapped keepers in the final minute of extra time. Skipper Mat Ryan was yanked off with the fresh legs of Andrew Redmayne thrown into the cauldron.
It was a massive gamble that paid off, as the Sydney FC shotstopper danced along his line in an attempt to put off the Peruvians. Sure enough this ploy from 33-year-old worked a treat as he made two saves to secure victory, and gave Arnold some breathspacing at the helm.
Redmayne has since earned the nickname the ‘Grey Wiggle’ for his exploits against Peru, and alongside Danny Vukovic will be the understudies to first-choice custodian Ryan.
But it is Sainsbury who should feel hard done by after being overlooked by his father-in-law. He has been training with A-League outfit Melbourne City as his club football in Qatar with Al-Wakrah Sport Club is on hiatus ahead of the World Cup.
Slammed for his selections and tactics, having had 48 players involved in the rollercoaster ride of the World Cup qualifiers, Arnold has constantly bounced back from being written off but next up is his biggest test.
Arnold will surely go ballistic if his side don’t spring a surprise in Qatar and snatch their first win on sport’s biggest stage since 2010 South Africa.
The Socceroos have only collected one point from their past tournaments, encompassing six matches, meaning that unless a dramatic improvement is made then Arnold’s job is on the line.
His set of results at Qatar 2022 will be career-defining, and could cause some Christmas Day commotion with his daughter and son-in-law.
