Football
Anna Harrington 4y

Arnold expects Socceroos to vie for Tokyo

Australia coach Graham Arnold says he expects all his senior Socceroos to "put their hands up" to compete in the Olympics, following the Olyroos' qualification for the Tokyo 2020 Games.

The Olyroos sealed qualification with a 1-0 win over Uzbekistan in the third-place play-off at the AFC U-23 Championship and will compete in Tokyo in the northern summer, with three players over the age of 23 permitted to join the squad.

While the likes of Aaron Mooy and Mat Ryan are among the more high-profile Socceroos, Arnold will have to consider his options carefully, given a hectic schedule that includes World Cup qualifying and the Copa America - along with players' European domestic seasons.

"It's something that everyone knows, you can have three over-age players. But we're only 15 hours after the game and I haven't even thought about that," Arnold said.

"But I will say that I've had about 20 Socceroos boys congratulating me on qualifying for the Olympics. I'd say that, because all the Socceroos boys haven't been to the Olympics before, they should put their hands up.

"So, it's something that I'll think about over time. But what's important is that we get the preparation right, we get some funding, funding from the AOC (Australian Olympic Committee) and we get the preparation right for the Olyroos. That we go there and win a medal and we have a very strong team."

The likes of Daniel Arzani, Harry Souttar and the suspended Riley McGree will all come into contention, with Arnold emphasising no player was guaranteed a spot.

"As I said to all these boys after the game - they've done a great job in getting us to the Olympics but that doesn't mean that they're in the Olympics squad.

"They have to perform over the next six months and play and beat people on merit and Riley McGree's no different."

Having earlier called on the FFA to support the Olyroos, Arnold also urged the Australian Olympic Committee and the government to step in with funding.

Men's soccer was one of a number of sports to have its Australian Institute of Sport (AIS) funding cut in 2018.

"It's something that we really need to have these conversations with the government and the Olympic committee," Arnold said.

"So I had a great text from (AOC president) John Coates congratulating us for qualifying for the first time in 12 years.

"But we had our funding completely cut and we need help for the preparation for these boys to give them the best opportunity to be successful at these Olympics."

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