Arnold tips Australia to break their 2006 World Cup record

After a crushing 4-1 defeat to France in matchday 1,

revived their hopes with a 1-0 victory over Tunisia. A win against Denmark on Wednesday would see the Australians reach the knockout stage of the tournament for the second time in their history.

However, their head coach

Graham Arnold

has higher hopes for his country. He said:

"That's the whole purpose. My whole goal is to put smiles on Australian faces. It's not about me, it's about the game in Australia.

"If you're not Australian and you don't know, football is probably the fourth or fifth-main sport. To leave a legacy is huge and in 2006, what that generation did... these guys [the current squad] grew up watching them and they were their inspiration.

"Even now at dinner, this generation talk about matching the achievements of 2006 but there is so much more to do."

Arnold was an assistant to

16 years ago, when he led the Socceroos to the round of 16 of the World Cup.

"

One thing Hiddink did was go for the win,

" Arnold added.

"That's what we are going to do. I've never coached to play for a draw. In 2006, we got one win and a draw, we want to go for it and get two wins.

"It's not often you get to go to a World Cup, and I've been saying this to the boys, enjoy the ride. We've gone through some difficult periods over the last four years, through the pandemic, playing four games out of 20 at home...

"It's all about the belief, the energy in the players. I feel relaxed and ready."

On their Wednesday opponents,

, Arnold said: "

They are a strong team, ranked 10 in the world, but the focus is on ourselves and making sure the players recover well and are ready to go.

"They have been a top team throughout Europe for a long time. We can only do so much worrying about them, the focus has to be on ourselves. They can play two systems, 3-4-3 or a 4-3-3, so we have to be ready for them tactically."

Melbourne City and Australia midfielder,

Mathew Leckie

added:

"It's huge for the sport. I don't know how much it will impact young kids but when they watch it on television and see how big the World Cup is, they may decide to be a footballer rather than, say, an AFL player.

"The World Cup and the Socceroos bring the country together. We can create something special but we haven't done anything yet, without a result on Wednesday it means nothing."

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