Graham Arnold says he can see “in their faces” that his preferred World Cup starting lineup will be ready to go again against Argentina, but he will wait until match day to name it after having some “honest conversations” with players about their physical state.
The Socceroos are preparing for their biggest match in history on Saturday night (Sunday 6am AEDT) at the Ahmad bin Ali Stadium, where every member of the squad wants to play for a place in the quarter-finals. Arnold has kept faith in a largely unchanged XI in Qatar but faces the prospect of having to rotate his squad to cater for Fifa’s condensed schedule, which has drawn criticism from players and coaches under the physical strain of a three-day turnaround between the group stage and last 16.
