Socceroos coach Graham Arnold is finally preparing to come home after spending the past five months living out of a suitcase abroad.
After five months abroad, globetrotting Socceroos coach Graham Arnold is ready to come home.
Having left Australia in May to prepare the Socceroos for the concluding stages of the AFC’s second round of World Cup qualifiers in Kuwait, Arnold has remained overseas to guide the fortunes of the Olyroos at the Tokyo Olympics and four more Socceroos’ matches on the road to Qatar 2022.
But with the likelihood of the national team finally playing on home soil again next month against Saudi Arabia with government approval of a travel bubble, Arnold – who has been to the UAE, Kuwait, Japan, Qatar, Vietnam and the United Kingdom since leaving Australia – should soon be heading home.
“I haven’t seen my kids, haven’t seen my grandkids … with everything that was going on I had to try and change personally my own strategy to get through this for the players and the staff,” Arnold said before the Socceroos’ clash against Japan in Saitama on Tuesday night.
“The hardest thing to be honest is the travel side of things. There are minimum flights, not only to Australia, even here in Japan.”
Before returning to Australia, Arnold will spend a week relaxing in the UK with his wife.
“I’ll take a week off and start planning for what’s next,” he said.
“I’m really expecting that the game (against Saudi Arabia) will be in Sydney, and we’ll get some normality back to the national teams.”
Including Tuesday night’s match against Japan, the Socceroos have played 19 of Arnold’s 22 games in charge since taking over Dutchman Bert van Marwijk in 2018 on foreign soil.
“It’s been a great journey so far in terms of not only just results but also with what we’re doing because everything’s different, and that’s what I keeping driving into the boys – don’t let anything stress you out,” Arnold said.
“It is what it is, relax, have fun, and keep that energy high and just enjoy it because it’s all different now these days.
“I’m just here for the boys – here to support them and help them fulfil their dreams.
“It’s their journey. It’s a privilege to coach the nation, but it does get tiring at times, but it’s what it is.”
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