{"id":497479,"date":"2026-03-31T01:05:21","date_gmt":"2026-03-31T01:05:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/?p=497479"},"modified":"2026-03-31T04:23:40","modified_gmt":"2026-03-31T04:23:40","slug":"id-rather-not-talk-about-it-wars-impact-on-aussie-coach","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/?p=497479","title":{"rendered":"'I'd rather not talk about it': War's impact on Aussie coach"},"content":{"rendered":"

Earlier this month, Iraq coach Graham Arnold<\/a> was stranded in Fujairah, on the eastern coast of the United Arab Emirates, due to the was in the Middle East.<\/p>\n

He wondered if his national team would even be able to compete for one last chance to qualify for the 2026 World Cup.<\/a><\/p>\n

After travelling a long and winding road to reach Mexico<\/a>, Arnold and Iraq will seek to return to a World Cup after an absence of 40 years when they face Bolivia in the final of their intercontinental playoff in Monterrey in northern Mexico on Wednesday (2pm kickoff AEDT).<\/p>\n

Football's<\/strong><\/em> new home, Stan Sport<\/strong><\/em><\/a>, is the only place to watch the Premier League, UEFA Champions League, FA Cup, WSL, European World Cup qualifiers, J.League, NSWL and K League<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

\"Graham<\/p>\n

"It's been very difficult being stranded, I'd rather not talk about it, I try to remove all of that from the players' brains because a lot of things are going on in the Middle East," Arnold said.<\/p>\n

"But players know what they're doing, they seem very relaxed and ready to go."<\/p>\n

Arnold was with his wife in a hotel in Fujairah after a series of Iranian missiles hit nearby when the war between the United States and Iran began.<\/p>\n

READ MORE:<\/strong> Ex-Spurs coach denies return talks ahead of World Cup<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

READ MORE:<\/strong> Left-field option revealed as 'crazy' Manly act called out<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

READ MORE:<\/strong> Surprise winner from first month holds mirror up Dons<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

\"Arnold<\/p>\n

The Australian coach was able to move to Dubai, but he was unable to join the team for several days.<\/p>\n

Iraqi players were also stranded because the country's airspace was closed, preventing the team from using commercial flights to leave the country.<\/p>\n

Team officials officially asked FIFA to postpone the playoff match.<\/p>\n

https:\/\/omny.fm\/shows\/added-time\/citys-warning-international-knockouts\/embed?style=Cover&media=Audio&size=Wide<\/a><\/p>\n

The team also faced visa complications because Mexico does not have an embassy in Iraq and players struggled to obtain the necessary visas to enter the country.<\/p>\n

But the issue was resolved when the Mexican foreign affairs ministry facilitated visas at other regional embassies.<\/p>\n

The team finally arrived in Monterrey on March 21 after a 25 hour journey that included navigating travel restrictions and a stopover in Portugal.<\/p>\n

https:\/\/x.com\/StanSportFC\/status\/2038723188310561085?s=20<\/a><\/p>\n

"It has been a very tough 20 days for us, but it is an honour and a privilege to be here – I lived in Australia for a long time and I know that qualifying for a World Cup can change a nation," said Arnold, who guided the Socceroos to the round of 16 at the 2022 World Cup.<\/p>\n

Since arriving in Mexico, the team has had plenty of time to adjust to the climate and players have practiced without incident.<\/p>\n

They have also been able to fraternise with children from local schools who have visited them during their training sessions.<\/p>\n

https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/p\/DWck6C1DX-i\/?img_index=1<\/a><\/p>\n

"I have been like a father figure this week because I've had this experience before so I want to keep them relaxed and ready," Arnold said.<\/p>\n

To qualify for its second World Cup, their first since Mexico in 1986, Iraq must defeat Bolivia, which eliminated Suriname 2-1 in the intercontinental playoff semi-finals last week.<\/p>\n

"It has been fantastic, it is an absolute honour to get Iraq to his part of the playoffs after 40 years and with just one more game to go," Arnold said.<\/p>\n

"I am confident that it will be a very special night for Iraq."<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Earlier this month, Iraq coach Graham Arnold was stranded in Fujairah, on the eastern coast of the United Arab Emirates, due to the was in […]<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":497481,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/497479"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=497479"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/497479\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":497484,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/497479\/revisions\/497484"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/497481"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=497479"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=497479"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=497479"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}