France Too Big, Too Strong and Too Fast, Says Australia Coach Arnold

Soccer Football - International Friendly - Australia v New Zealand - Suncorp Stadium, Brisbane, Australia - September 22, 2022 Australia coach Graham Arnold REUTERS/Loren Elliott/File Photo
Soccer Football - International Friendly - Australia v New Zealand - Suncorp Stadium, Brisbane, Australia - September 22, 2022 Australia coach Graham Arnold REUTERS/Loren Elliott/File Photo
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France Too Big, Too Strong and Too Fast, Says Australia Coach Arnold

Soccer Football - International Friendly - Australia v New Zealand - Suncorp Stadium, Brisbane, Australia - September 22, 2022 Australia coach Graham Arnold REUTERS/Loren Elliott/File Photo
Soccer Football - International Friendly - Australia v New Zealand - Suncorp Stadium, Brisbane, Australia - September 22, 2022 Australia coach Graham Arnold REUTERS/Loren Elliott/File Photo

Australia coach Graham Arnold admitted his side found France just too much to handle after the Socceroos lost 4-1 to the reigning champions in their opening game at the World Cup on Tuesday.

"At the end of the day the quality of the French team," Arnold said when asked to explain Australia's defeat in the Group D encounter at Al Janoub Stadium.

"They are the previous world champions for a reason. I thought we started the game very well but physically they were just so much bigger and faster and stronger than us today.

"Overall the boys did everything they could and that's all I can ask."

France needed a late own goal to beat Australia when the sides met in their opening game at the 2018 World Cup and the Socceroos raised the prospect of a stunning upset this time in Qatar as they took an early lead, AFP said.

Craig Goodwin, starting after injury ruled out Martin Boyle, put them in front from a Mathew Leckie cross.

However, goals from Adrien Rabiot and Olivier Giroud had France ahead before half-time, and Kylian Mbappe made it 3-1 midway through the second period before another Giroud goal ended any doubt about the outcome.

It was a punishing night at times for some of the Australian players, among them Nathaniel Atkinson, with the 23-year-old Hearts right-back given a torrid time by Mbappe.

"I thought the kid actually did decently well. He did his best against one of the best players in the world," said Arnold.

"But how do you stop someone so quick? It's very difficult. It's a great lesson for the kid and he'll move on from it."

Arnold must now pick his players up quickly before what is already a crunch clash on Saturday against a Tunisia side who showed up well in holding Denmark to a 0-0 draw earlier.

"We've built belief and the energy and focus over the last week since we've been in camp, and the way we started I think we had that belief, but we just got punished for our mistakes," said the coach.

"That's this game gone and now it's about winning on Saturday, so we've got to get ready for it."



Sabalenka Routs Keys, Books Indian Wells Title Clash with Andreeva

Mar 14, 2025; Indian Wells, CA, USA;  Aryna Sabalenka (BEL) reacts reacts at match point as she defeated Madison Keys (not pictured) in the semifinal match in the BNP Paribas Open at the Indian Well Tennis Garden. Mandatory Credit: Jayne Kamin-Oncea-Imagn Images
Mar 14, 2025; Indian Wells, CA, USA; Aryna Sabalenka (BEL) reacts reacts at match point as she defeated Madison Keys (not pictured) in the semifinal match in the BNP Paribas Open at the Indian Well Tennis Garden. Mandatory Credit: Jayne Kamin-Oncea-Imagn Images
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Sabalenka Routs Keys, Books Indian Wells Title Clash with Andreeva

Mar 14, 2025; Indian Wells, CA, USA;  Aryna Sabalenka (BEL) reacts reacts at match point as she defeated Madison Keys (not pictured) in the semifinal match in the BNP Paribas Open at the Indian Well Tennis Garden. Mandatory Credit: Jayne Kamin-Oncea-Imagn Images
Mar 14, 2025; Indian Wells, CA, USA; Aryna Sabalenka (BEL) reacts reacts at match point as she defeated Madison Keys (not pictured) in the semifinal match in the BNP Paribas Open at the Indian Well Tennis Garden. Mandatory Credit: Jayne Kamin-Oncea-Imagn Images

Aryna Sabalenka avenged her Australian Open loss to Madison Keys on Friday, thrashing the American 6-0, 6-1 to book an Indian Wells title showdown with teen sensation Mirra Andreeva.

Red-hot Russian 17-year-old Andreeva showed plenty of poise in a 7-6 (7/1), 1-6, 6-3 victory over defending champion Iga Swiatek, ending the second-ranked Pole's bid to become the first woman to win three titles in the California desert.

"I was hungry," said Sabalenka, who had made no bones about wanting revenge after Keys denied her bid for a third straight Australian Open title in January.

"That Australian Open match was really heartbroken for me, and I really needed some time to recover after that.

"And if I would lose today again, it would get in my head and I didn't want that to happen. I was really focused -- I was just really hungry to get this win against Madison."

Keys, who was riding a 16-match winning streak, couldn't get a foot in the door, AFP reported.

Sabalenka was untroubled by the cold, swirling wind on Stadium Court as she won the first 11 games.

"I think tactically I played really great tennis," said Sabalenka, adding her strategy was to "just keep her out of the rhythm".

The mis-firing Keys finally held serve for 5-1 in the second, but minutes later Sabalenka sealed the win and lined up a shot at the WTA tour's newest sensation Andreeva in what 26-year-old Sabalenka quipped would be "kind of like an old mama playing against a kid".

Andreeva beat Swiatek for the second time in as many tournaments, having stunned the Polish star in the quarter-finals at Dubai last month on the way to becoming the youngest ever WTA 1000 champion.

Swiatek, who hadn't dropped a set in winning 10 straight Indian Wells matches, looked supremely confident as she dropped just one point in her first three service games.

But it was Andreeva who claimed the first break of the tense first set for a 5-4 lead.

After Swiatek broke back and they reached the tiebreaker, Andreeva seized control, opening with a blistering backhand winner and pocketing the set on her first opportunity as Swiatek sent a backhand wide.

"I felt like I'm gonna go and play the tiebreak like it's the last tiebreak of my life," she said. "So I just went for all my shots. My serve was great. I just felt super comfortable and confident," she said.

Swiatek put her frustrations aside and broke Andreeva to open the second set, breaking her twice more as the Russian's errors multiplied under pressure from her opponent.

"The second set, it was a bit weird," Andreeva said. "I just felt like she literally overplayed me, because she was playing pretty deep with good height over the net. It was really hard to do something with these shots."

The roles reversed again, however, when Andreeva stepped up her attack and broke Swiatek to open the third, and she sealed the win with her third break of the set.

"I just decided to kind of still play the same but maybe go for my shots more, trying to play a little bit more aggressive," she said.

"I feel also that I was dealing with the nerves and the pressure pretty good, so I just feel proud of myself."