UNDER-fire Australia coach Graham Arnold has fended off criticism of the Socceroos' inglorious performance in their opening 1-1 draw against Oman, saying 'who cares?'.
Arnold said before the tournament that Australia would have failed if they did not to reach the Asian Cup final in Jakarta, Indonesia, on July 29.
But he and his players were panned across Australia after the draw with Oman in Bangkok.
Television commentator and former Socceroos player Craig Foster said the team lacked discipline under Arnold, while former Australia coach Rale Rasic said that Arnold was not strict enough with his players.
Arnold was terse in his responses when asked about the pressure he was under to get a result.
Asked about mounting criticism of him in Australia, he snapped: "I haven't read anything back at home. I'm here in Bangkok. Who cares?
"There is a lot of pressure on all the coaches, but I have a three-year contract, so that's nice.
"It's not a do-or-die game for me. It's not about me. It's about the team. Every game is important. We still have another game after this one against Thailand.
"We can still control what we can do, and we're concerned about ourselves and we want the power in our hands to get the right results."
Arnold feeling the heat
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