Boss Graham Arnold wants Australia to play on front foot against Tunisia

Australia coach Graham Arnold has urged his players to get into the faces of Tunisia to revive their World Cup hopes.

The Socceroos suffered a heavy 4-1 loss at the hands of reigning champions France in their opening Group D match at Qatar 2022.

Defeat against such a formidable opponent was not unexpected, but it leaves them facing a daunting task to reach the second round, with games against the strongly-backed north Africans and highly-rated Denmark to come.

Australia are the lowest-ranked side in the group, but Arnold insists his team, who play Tunisia on Saturday, are not fazed by the challenge.

Speaking at his pre-match press conference, Arnold said: “The way we played the first 30 minutes against France was intended for 90, but when you turn the ball over cheaply, when you make a mistake, you get punished.

“Tomorrow is a different kettle of fish. We’ll be in their faces, we’ll be up high and we’ll be chasing and pressing like they do, and like other teams do – being on the front foot.

“We’ve got two games now, to win those two games, to get through the last 16.”

Australian supporters are likely to be vastly outnumbered, with around 30,000 Tunisia fans expected at the Al Janoub Stadium.

Arnold said: “It’s going to be a fantastic experience and it’s going to be great for us to play in front of such an exciting group of fans.

“The Tunisian fans, we saw against Denmark, they make a lot of noise – but that won’t affect us at all. It’s about going out there and getting our job done by looking at what Tunisia have.”

Australia could not be faulted for their attitude against France and a positive start saw them take an early lead through Craig Goodwin.

“We all saw the footage back home of after Goodie scored and it gives you goosebumps,” said defender Aziz Behich.

“We’re going to go out there all guns blazing and when that final whistle goes we want to see more footage of everyone going crazy again.”

Tunisia played out a goalless draw against Denmark in their opener and, with France to play in their final group game, they have their sights firmly set on victory this time around.

Coach Jalel Kadri said: “This is a key match for us and for Australia.

“We take it step by step so now we’re focusing on this match and what we need to do to get the best return.

“We are facing a much pressure we hope that this pressure will be transformed into a positive result.

“We all have the same sense of responsibility to be able to perform better on the pitch and we hope we will achieve the aspirations of our fans.”