Graham Arnold, the coach of Australia, criticized the timing of the Asian Football Cup, which is set to start in January, stating that it favors more Arab teams and creates issues for other countries with a significant number of players in Europe. FIFA regulations require clubs to release their players for the continental tournament to be held in Qatar, but Arnold mentioned that some of his players are facing pressure from their European clubs to not participate in the tournament organized by the Asian Football Confederation.
Speaking to reporters in Sydney on Wednesday, Arnold said, "I want the Asian Confederation to seriously reconsider the timing of the Asian Cup in January, as it suits the countries in the Middle East better. (Hajime) Moriyasu in Japan and Jürgen Klinsmann in South Korea may have the same problem that we are currently facing with clubs because all our boys play in Europe."
Arnold's recent squad of 23 players for a World Cup qualifying match against Palestine included 19 professional players from Europe. In contrast, Saudi Arabia's squad did not have any overseas professionals in their qualifiers last month against Pakistan and Jordan. Arnold stated that he is still in discussions with European clubs about allowing the players to participate in the Asian Cup.
His team is scheduled to gather in Qatar on January 1, meaning some players could miss up to eight club matches during the middle of the European league season if Australia reaches the final. However, Arnold expressed his expectation for Australia, the 2015 champions, to win the Asian Cup, a sentiment he also voiced before the 2019 tournament in the UAE, where they were eliminated in the quarter-finals.
He acknowledged that his current squad is less experienced than the one in 2019, which was largely inherited from former coach Bert van Marwijk after Australia's exit from the group stage of the 2018 World Cup in Russia. Nonetheless, Arnold feels more optimistic about his chances in Qatar this time, as he has had time to better understand his group. He added, "This time I have been working with this group for five years, and the younger players participated in the Tokyo Olympics."
