Coach Arnold tells Iraqis to focus on Indonesia as Saudi clash looms
Soccer Football - World Cup - AFC Qualifiers - Group B - Iraq v South Korea - Basra International Stadium, Basra, Iraq - June 5, 2025 Iraq coach Graham Arnold and Rene Meulensteen REUTERS/Thaier Al-Sudani
JEDDAH :Iraq coach Graham Arnold has urged his players to ignore Tuesday's game against Saudi Arabia and maintain their focus on Saturday's meeting with Indonesia as the Gulf nation resumes their quest for a first World Cup appearance since 1986.
The Iraqis face both nations over a four-day period in the fourth phase of Asia's World Cup preliminaries in Jeddah, with the winners of the three-team group guaranteed one of the continent's spots at next year's finals.
"I've had a lot of experience in these type of games," said Arnold, who led his native Australia through a series of playoffs to qualify for the 2022 World Cup. "The most important thing is one step at a time.
"The first few days together was making sure that we are mentally prepared ourselves and we don't think about the end of the two games, we think about one game at a time and we are fully focused only on Indonesia.
"At the moment there is no second game, it's just Indonesia and getting the result that we will get."
Iraq have faced Indonesia three times over the last two years, winning on each occasion, but the team Arnold's side will face has undergone a significant overhaul since the countries last played, in the second phase of qualifying in June 2024.
The inclusion of a growing number of overseas-born players, including captain Jay Idzes and defender Kevin Diks, means the side Patrick Kluivert leads bears little resemblance to the one previously beaten by the Iraqis.
Indonesia go into the game needing to win to maintain their own qualification hopes having lost 3-2 to Saudi Arabia on Wednesday.
"World Cup qualifiers are very important and it seems like we've been waiting a long time," said Arnold, who replaced Jesus Casas as head coach in May. "But we're all ready to go now.
"I think if I have to give the team a rating out of 10 then we're a 10. Discipline from the boys has never been an issue for me, they've been fantastic. 100 per cent.
"The biggest positive for me has been that all the players are playing a lot of football at their clubs. If I compare their fitness levels to four months ago when I first started this job they look completely different players."
