Graham Arnold, who is presently in charge of Australian senior men’s Football team, is not sure whether he can oversee the Australian junior team as well whom he oversaw on an interim basis in the Olympic qualification matches recently.

The matches of the junior team are mostly scheduled round about at the same time of the year when the senior team plays their matches, hence it’s virtually impossible for a coach to be in charge of both the teams and Arnold understands it.

Graham Arnold and Australia’s national team seem to have missed out on a valuable opportunity in order to get back to winning ways, as the team would not be involved in the international break for the first time since 2004. After exiting the AFC Asian Cup 2019 in the quarter-finals, Graham Arnold indicated that there was a lot of scope to improve the team. However, the national team have elected to opt against playing in the international window for March. The national team’s next match will be in the summer when the fixtures are out.

The decision not to be involved in the international window is surprising, as Australia have been a regular when it comes to FIFA windows for the last 15 years. Australia would have gained valuable experience in the Tokyo 2020 qualifiers, but Arnold seems to be comfortable not to be part of the window. There is also a huge financial decision behind opting against playing in this window. The Australian football Federation has been struggling with finances for the last four years.The decision to skip the window will also benefit players like Mark Milligan, Mat Ryan, and Aaron Mooy. These names have been able to benefit from a break just as in the season heads into the business end.

Hull City midfielder Jackson Irvine has admitted that he was disappointed with the nature of Australia’s exit from the recent Asian Cup. The Socceroos were one of the favourites to reach the final of the tournament but that was not meant to be after hosts United Arab Emirates secured a shock 1-0 win over them at the quarter-final stage.

Speaking to Hull Live, Irvine said that he was pleased with his involvement at the tournament, although there was sadness with the early exit, he quipped: “I enjoyed it, even if I was home a week earlier than I’d have liked. It was a sad way to leave it in the end but I love playing for my country. It’s always such an honour and to be involved in another major tournament was amazing.”

Kevin Muscat says that the decision to award a penalty against Corey Brown for a handball inside the penalty box may set a precedent for any player who accidentally handles the ball inside the box. In a recent match between Melbourne Victory and Perth Glory, the latter were able to take the lead when Corey Brown accidentally touched the ball from a few metres away when Neil Kilkenny flicked in his direction. Worldwide, referees do not give penalties for such incidents since there is very little time for a player to react and take his hand out of the way.

However, referee Jarred Gillett decided to hand a penalty to the incident and even the VAR decision did not change matters. Perth Glory opened the scoring with this penalty and went on to win the game with a 2-1 score.Muscat was understandably upset after the match and he said that there was little Brown could have done for the incident. In such a situation, it is wrong for the referee to hand a penalty, which may serve as a precedence for future incidents of such nature. However, Perth Glory manager Tony Popovic did not tend to agree with Kevin Muscat and admitted that it was a penalty.

Former Australia international Craig Moore believes Tom Rogic could pursue a fresh challenge away from Celtic in the forthcoming years despite committing to a new long-term contract with the club. Rogic’s initial deal was due to expire at the end of the previous campaign but the Hoops managed to find the breakthrough to extend his stay for another five seasons.

Despite this, Moore does not feel his compatriot would remain with the Scottish champions for an extended period and there could be a time where he does move on from the Glasgow giants, he said: “A lot of people didn’t believe Tom could come to Scotland and do well for Celtic. I was always convinced he would. I knew what was there and what he had to offer. He is very good in his area. He is good at creating opportunities, he is good at scoring goals, he is good at assisting.

Australian national team was at the end of a shock 1-0 defeat by Jordan in the Asian Cup and manager Graham Arnold claimed that it was one of those days that should be used as a wake-up call for the team. Meanwhile, Jordan manager Vital Borkelmans was in full praise of his players for executing a plan to perfection. This was the opening match in the group B and Australia where overwhelming favourites for a victory. However, defender AnasBani-Yaseen scored from a header in the first half to provide the decisive difference between the two teams.

Now, Australia are facing the risk of getting out of the Asian Cup at an early stage. Australia have every reason to be worried at this result taking the focus away from the team. The national team are up against Palestine on Friday and they are once again favourites to get a victory. Even though Australia had an incredible 77% of the ball against Jordan, they were unable to make much of an impact with the same. On most occasions, Australia were sluggish and did not create many chances.
Furthermore, Jordan were in a compact shape that made it harder for the opposition to break them down. After the game, Arnold claimed that Jordan need to be praised for coming up with a strong defensive performance.

Graham Arnold says that he still has to fill up six spots in order to complete the Asian Cup squad. Even though the Socceroos manager has been able to finalise most of the positions, he says that the final few spots will be decided based on the recent performances. Australia go into the Asian Cup looking to defend the title that they won recently. The remaining candidates have time left to impress the manager and cement their position in the squad. It is clear that Arnold will not be making the decision based on reputation and it will be made based on form.

Speaking ahead of the squad announcement, the Australian national team manager said that he has been happy with the display put up by his players in the games against Lebanon and South Korea. He has decided to leave one position vacant in every aspect of the pitch so that players can still show that they are capable of being taken for the Asian Cup. There is a possibility that some of the six spots will include players who did not feature in the recent friendly matches against South Korea, Lebanon, and Kuwait. It is expected that Perth Glory winger Chris Ikonomidis may be in line for a call up, as he has been in excellent form of late.

Manchester United are understood to have earmarked Brighton & Hove Albion’s Mathew Ryan as a probable successor to current goalkeeper David de Gea. The Australia international only joined the Seagulls from Valencia last year but he has since captured the attention of the media with a number of top-notch performances between the sticks.

As such, The Sun reports that United are monitoring the shot-stopper’s developments and they could be tempted to make an approach, should De Gea lean towards an Old Trafford exit. De Gea has been a tremendous servant for the Red Devils over the past seven-and-a-half seasons but there remains a concern regarding his long-term future with the club.

Mile Jedinak has decided to hang up his boots from international football with immediate effect. The Australian captain has been able to enjoy a lot of success with the national team after reaching three World Cup tournaments. The 34-year-old, though, has decided to take this step in order to focus on his club career. The former Sydney United player is capable of playing as a defensive midfielder or at the back. He is currently with Aston Villa after having joined the Midlands outfit in 2016. Regarded as one of the best players for the national team over the last few years, Jedinak has been able to captain the club in 2010, 2014, and 2018 editions of the FIFA World Cup.

He has also been with the national team on two AFC Asian Cups and lead the national team to success in the 2015 edition. After starting out his career with Sydney United, he gained prominence when he made the move the Central Coast Mariners in 2006. From here, the European adventure began forJedinak, who played for the likes ofGençlerbirliği andAntalyaspor before making the high profile switch to Crystal Palace in 2011. The move to the English league worked out well for the defender, who went on to make more than 150 league appearances for Palace during a five-year spell.

Hibernian boss Neil Lennon believes winger Martin Boyle deserves an international call-up with Australia and the exposure would help him develop into a better footballer. The 25-year-old has only represented Scotland at the under-16 level but he has the qualification to represent the Socceroos with his father hailing from Sydney.

Speaking in a press conference, Lennon revealed that Socceroos coach Graham Arnold had a close watch on the attacker during the recent league game against Kilmarnock and hinted that he could receive a maiden call-up for the international friendly against Kuwait next month, he said: “An Australia call-up would be thoroughly merited for Martin.