The Socceroos' big talk of victory in the build up to their Asian Cup opener was "dangerous", according to Jordan coach Vital Borkelmans.
Australia stumbled at the first hurdle in their title defence, falling 1-0 to a fired-up Jordanian outfit in Al Ain on Sunday.
Comments such as "we expect to win" by coach Graham Arnold the day before the match were perceived as arrogance by Jordanian media.
And a delighted Borkelmans issued a warning for Arnold following his team's win, which was achieved despite Jordan ceding 77 per cent possession to Australia.
"It's very, very dangerous to talk like this," the Belgian said.
"I say many times to my players, 'guys, no country is small. When you see the World Cup, big teams lose to small countries'.
"When you put this (thought) in your players, they get so mentally strong that the performance is going up every minute in the game."
Arnold denied his expectations were arrogance, simply a genuine belief in his team's abilities.
