The victory was the Socceroos’ sixth from six starts in qualifying for Qatar 2022 and follows last week’s defeat of Kuwait.Credit:AP
The Socceroos,chock full of debutants and fresh faces,did not match their lightning start against Kuwait,when they set the tone with an opening-minute goal,but by half-time Australia’s all-new XI had put the game to bed.
That they did so only through set pieces was unexpected,with the goals coming from two Riley McGree corners converted by centre-backs Harry Souttar and Trent Sainsbury respectively and a penalty by Jamie Maclaren.
Mitchell Duke had two in the second half to swell the scoreline after Chinese Taipei pulled one goal back.
Arnold was happy enough with the outcome,particularly as he played so many inexperienced players.
“It was an opportunity to give young players a chance to show what they can do and I was very happy with the way the boys went,” he said.
“We created chances again. That’s the hardest thing. We had a very inexperienced team that was given an opportunity[with] only a couple of senior players around them and I thought they handled everything really well.