After facing widespread criticism for overlooking Olyroo standouts Bruce Djite and Nathan Burns in the squad he took to Beijing, Arnie admitted goals were a issue.

Australia scored just once in three games, but despite that, Arnold thought the team had been outstanding.

The Olyroos failed to qualify from the group stage after a late goal from Salomon Kalou in the final match against Ivory Coast last night condemned the Aussies to an early flight home.

"We had nerves in our first game, but against Argentina we were outstanding and we were outstanding again today," Arnold said after the game.

"The difference in the game was Kalou. He's a big player and he made all the difference today.

"We've had problems scoring with this team. This is generally a problem with all levels of Australia's national teams.

"Disappointment aside, I am proud of the work the players put in and I think we have developed as a team."

Defender Nikolai Topor-Stanley added: "We improved with every game here, but we just came up a little short."