The Socceroos faced their first true test under Arnie after going a goal down to Anas Bani Yaseen's powerful header at the near post, but couldn't create many chances as they scuppered to an opening match loss.

It was a case of returning nightmares for Arnold, whose Socceroos side scraped a 1-1 with Oman in the opening match of the 2007 Asian Cup, before losing 3-1 to Iraq in their next match.

They eventually lost to Japan in a penalty shootout in the tournament's quarterfinal.

But despite the Socceroos scoring a whopping 13 goals in four matches under Arnold preceeding the Asian Cup, fans were sceptical of the 55-year-old's ability to lead Australia forward.

In addition to jabs at Arnie, there were plaudits given to the Jordanians, who offered more than just a counter-attacking display.

Vital Borkelman's side looked dangerous throughout, defended resolutely with strong organisation, and offered plenty of attractive attacking threat, largely through impressive individual skill.