Daniel Arzani Divides Opinion After Olyroos Performance

Three years ago, Daniel Arzani was turning heads at the 2018 World Cup for the Socceroos. On Thursday night, he was frustrating many fans as he looked to impress with the Olyroos. 

It’s been a difficult few years for Arzani, who suffered an ACL injury on his senior debut for Celtic in 2018 and has subsequently struggled for game time at club level since. 

Olyroos coach Graham Arnold stood by the 22-year-old to name him in his final squad for the Tokyo Olympics and claimed at the time he wanted to help resurrect his career.  

Arzani started against Argentina on Thursday night as the green and gold recorded a famous 2-0 win thanks to goals from Lachlan Wales and Marco Tilio. 

While Arzani started the match brightly with a darting run early on, he struggled with his passing throughout the match with many fans left frustrated by what they were seeing by a player that was stunning them just three years prior. 

Arzani was subbed off in the 79th minute against Argentina with his replacement Tilio scoring Australia’s second goal just moments later. 

Though some fans lost patience with Arzani on Thursday, not all have written him off just yet, with the Aussie backed to come good with more time and overcome unrealistic expectations placed on him. 

After loan stints in the Netherlands and Denmark last season, Arzani remains contracted to Manchester City for next season with another loan move likely to be lined up after the Olympics. 

The Olyroos next face Spain on Sunday night before rounding out their group stage matches against Egypt on Wednesday.