<\/p>\n
Graham Arnold wants to make something clear. This World Cup will not be his coaching swansong if he has his way. <\/p>\n
In a wide-ranging interview that you can watch in full on the Fox Sports Australia YouTube page, Arnold delves into what\u2019s motivating his future plans, the shock of suddenly finding himself in a war zone, what it was like to pull on Iraq colours for the first time, how he plans to guide his side out of the group of death in North America in June and his reaction if a knockout meeting with the Socceroos eventuates. <\/p>\n
Get all the latest football news, highlights and analysis delivered straight to your inbox with Fox Sports Sportmail. Sign up now!!!<\/a><\/b><\/i><\/p>\n Fox Sports Australia sat down with Arnold following his return to Sydney after Iraq broke a 40-year drought by qualifying for the World Cup on the back of a 2-1 playoff victory over Bolivia in Mexico. <\/p>\n Arnold leads Iraq to first WC since 86′ | 01:51<\/p>\n In the process he grabs a slice of Australian football history. He\u2019s now the first Australian to take two different nations to a men\u2019s World Cup and if he has his way it won\u2019t be the last time he graces football\u2019s biggest stage.<\/p>\n \u201cAt the moment it\u2019s sort of sinking in but I want to do number three, I want to do number four, I\u2019ve got to chase Guus Hiddink\u2019s record,\u201d Arnold says.<\/p>\n \u201cI told him.\u201d<\/p>\n Hiddink, who took the Socceroos to the 2006 World Cup in Germany, and Arnold still speak regularly.<\/p>\n Arnold describes the veteran Dutchman, who coached at three World Cup finals \u2013 all with different countries \u2013 as a \u201cfather figure\u201d and he learned his coaching skills at the feet of Hiddink as part of his coaching staff 20 years ago.<\/p>\n The two share similarities. <\/p>\n Hiddink coached the Netherlands at France 1998 before moving on to take charge of South Korea in 2002 and then Australia in 2006.<\/p>\n Arnold, who has championed Australian football all his life as a player and then coach, still remembers the first time he put on the colours of Iraq.<\/p>\n \u201cFirst day in Basra before we played South Korea and I put a different nation on my heart,\u201d Arnold says of getting dressed for the match.<\/p>\n \u201cIt was different, it was different. <\/p>\n \u201cI looked in the mirror, and it was a bit like \u2018oh\u2019.\u201d<\/p>\n LISTEN: Fox Sports Australia\u2019s full chat with Iraq and former Socceroos coach Graham Arnold<\/i><\/b><\/p>\n He\u2019s grown to love that look. It\u2019s another chapter in what has been a storied career, but one that he never thought would involve being hoisted onto the shoulders of team members at full-time, waving the Iraqi flag over his head, after a game in Mexico.<\/p>\n \u201cNo, never thought that ever,\u201d he says with a broad grin.<\/p>\n \u201cBut that\u2019s how much they appreciate me.\u201d<\/p>\n