SYDNEY, July 21: Graham Arnold was on Friday announced as interim national coach for Australia's two Asian Cup qualifying matches next month.

Australia take on Kuwait in Sydney on Aug 16 and Lebanon in Adelaide on Aug 31 in their bid to qualify for the finals of the Asian Cup in July next year.

Arnold was an assistant coach under Guus Hiddink when Australia played in the recent World Cup in Germany. Hiddink has since taken up a contract to coach Russia.

“While our long-term coaching arrangements are critical, in the immediate term our priority is to optimise the preparation of our squad for the Asian Cup qualifiers,” Football Federation Australia (FFA) chief executive John ONeill said in a statement.

“The players and management will benefit from the certainty, and indeed continuity that this announcement provides.

“We have every confidence that Graham Arnold, who has been involved as assistant coach for the past six years and has filled in previously, will keep the team progressing on the right track.”

Arnold took charge of the Socceroos in their 3-1 win over Bahrain in their first Asian Cup qualifier in Manama last February.

“It's important that there is continuity within the coaching structure as we look to our next major competition, the Asian Cup,” Arnold said in the FFA statement.

O'Neill said the FFA would not make any further comment on the national coach vacancy until it was in a position to provide substantive new information.—AFP