The local clubs were bitter after Federation Football Australia scheduled a full set of matches despite the clash with Olyroo and Socceroo matches.

Arnold was unrepentant about the clanger though and branded clubs "ridiculous" for complaining.

"The national team is the most important team in Australia," he said.

Elsewhere in the world, domestic leagues were given a weekend off because of international matches.

But the FFA insisted games had to go ahead last weekend because of venue availability and broadcast rights arrangements.

As a result, matches like Perth Glory versus Sydney FC ended in a 0-0 stalemate borefest with both sides missing a total of 17 first team players.

In all, 18 A-League players were unavailable because of national call-ups which combined with a string of routine injuries and suspensions to cause chaos.

Fans dubbed the weekend's round the worst week ever for football in the history of the A-League.

Now Graham Arnold has hit back at the anger and denied any blame for the situation.

"The clubs were warned a year ago by myself and John Boultbee (FFA head of high performance) and for them to come out and complain now is ridiculous," Arnold said.

However the Argentina game was originally scheduled for June - during the A-League close season - and only re-arranged for this week within the past couple of months.

Arnold added: "They were sat down and shown the program ahead. I spoke to every coach individually, I said you could lose three or four of your players.

"For them to come out and criticise the FFA about it is a bit harsh."

Socceroos skipper Lucas Neill added: "I don't want to see the national team depleted because we have to worry about the domestic league.

"I don't get that choice coming from England, so why should anyone else. That's just football.

"Everyone's ultimate goal should be to benefit the national team."