It was a much-more humble and slightly relieved looking Graham Arnold that fronted the media after his Socceroos side scraped into the Asian Cup Round of 16 after a 3-2 win over Syria. 

Gone were the claims of how his Australia side would "strangle the life" out of opposition teams, replaced instead by an admittance that he, just like his young, injury ravaged squad, are learning from each result.

"It's fantastic, a wonderful learning process," Arnold said.

"The older boys did very well with their leadership, we knew that Syria were going to throw everything at us but we did well tonight.

"We're very grateful and happy to go through to the last 16. I do believe the longer we go, the longer the learning experience for these guys on a four year journey."

Australia now face a nervy wait to see if they face Uzbekistan or Japan, two sides currently separated only by goal difference, in the next round.

But despite drawing significant criticism throughout the group stage, there are positive signs for Arnold to focus on over the next few days.

Not least Awer Mabil and Chris Ikonomidis, who have performed admirably among a fresh-faced forward line, spurred forward by a devastatingly dangerous Tom Rogic who returned to form when needed.

"We'll give them a few days off," Arnold added. "That was a difficult pitch to play on, very quick, Mabil is a terrific striker. That's another learning experience.

"Backyard Tommy, the Wizard of Oz, I love him. When you give him freedom he's exciting, he's a big part of what we're about and he's such a positive influence for those players."

As for Australia's defensive woes, well, Arnie's focusing on the positives for now.

"It's when there are a lot of long balls, it can become a lottery with the second ball," he said.

"The first goal was a mental thing, the second one, you said I don't want to look at it - it was a penalty, there's not a lot we can do.

"This journey is really exciting, I'm learning a lot on how to deal with training sessions. Without four players out there tonight through injury and suspension, it was a mighty performance."