The Socceroos have qualified for the round of 16 at the FIFA World Cup for just the second time in their history on the back of a hard-fought 1-0 win over a Denmark side who had earlier in the week dismissed Australia as sub-par.
The victory is only Australia’s fourth on the biggest stage of all, and the records continue to tumble with coach Graham Arnold now the first to win two World Cup games in charge of the Socceroos – at the same tournament or otherwise – after the former Sydney FC boss became the first Aussie-born manager to win a World Cup match after the 1-0 triumph over Tunisia.
Mat Leckie scored the second half goal.
“It’s hard to describe the emotions right now,” said Leckie.
“We always knew we could do it. We believed as a group. We had our doubters, as you know, but our spirit, our belief, our work ethic and how close we are as a group, it showed on the pitch, and the last 15-20 minutes we battled until the end, and it didn’t matter what they threw at us, we weren’t conceding.”
Arnold praised “a lot of belief and a lot of hardwork. I could see in their eyes they were ready tonight.”
He said the team would stay focussed ahead of their knockout game. “No celebrations, no emotion, no social media,” he said.
(Photo by Youssef Loulidi/Fantasista/Getty Images)
Reigning champions France, despite going down to Tunisia by the only goal, finish at the summit of Group D and join the Australians in the knock out stage.
Tunisia, after their win, finish third while the Danes’ defeat condemns them to rock bottom of the group.
Australia will take on the winners of Group C in the next stage, with France to play the runners-up. First and second place are both still up for grabs in that group as Saudi Arabia face off against Mexico, and group leaders Poland look to seal top spot when they play Lionel Messi’s Argentina side.
Mathew Leckie has propelled the Socceroos into the knockout stages of the FIFA World Cup for just the second time in their history.
Leckie’s second-half goal, a brilliant individual effort, was just the third scored goal scored by Australia in their three group stage fixtures but it was enough to take care of a frustrated, stunted Denmark side who had earlier in the week derisively spoken about their opponents.
Goalkeeper Ryan was called into action early as the Socceroos lacked early spark and were forced to repel a series of attacks from the Danes, ranked 10th in the world, 28 slots higher than Australia.
Ryan made a reflex save in the 11th minute from a thundering Mathias Jensen shot, the Australian parrying away with both hands above his head.
The Danes controlled two-thirds of possession, having almost double the passes of Australia in the opening half yet the Socceroos crafted some half-chances mainly courtesy of midfielder Riley McGree.
The attacking midfielder had the first shot of the match – a long-range left footer in the third minute which was blocked in the box – and another some 20 minutes later after Leckie and Mitch Duke headers played him into space.
After a scoreless half, Socceroos coach Graham Arnold replaced Craig Goodwin, who lacked his customary fizz on the flank, with Keanu Baccus.
Surviving a first-half barrage was huge for Graham Arnold’s side as the two teams went into the sheds locked at 0-0 with all the pressure on the Danes.
In the other game, Tunisia’s Wahbi Khazri broke the deadlock, temporarily lifting his side up to second place in Group D on the live ladder.
Tunisia’s joy would be short-lived, however, after a Riley McGree through-ball found an onside Mat Leckie. Still with plenty to do, the Australian winger jinked inside his defender, before cutting back on to his left boot and unleashing a clinical finish across Kasper Schmeichel.
Australian chances were then limited as the Socceroos battened down the hatches and looked to conserve their slim advantage.
A more and more desperate Denmark outfit tried in vain to unlock the door as Australia repelled attack after attack.
Christian Eriksen, as always, was in the thick of things but even the silky Manchester United midfielder was struggling to break down a resolute Socceroos defence.
After six agonising minutes of stoppage time for Australian fans, the sound of the final whistle was quickly drowned out by the shrieks and screams of overjoyed green and gold supporters as the Socceroos qualified for the knockout stages of a FIFA World Cup for just the second time in their history.
Didier Deschamps rolled out a significantly altered line-up, with stars Antoine Griezmann, Kylian Mbappe, Adrien Rabiot and Ousmane Dembele all conspicuously missing from the starting 11. In all there were nine changes from the 2-1 triumph over Denmark.
It was a calculated move from the France boss, however, as his side were already through to the round of 16 no matter what happened today, and also all but guaranteed to finish top of Group D because of their far superior goal difference. That’s exactly what happened, with Les Bleus topping group D in spite of the 1-0 loss.
Wahbi Khazri’s 58th-minute solo strike earned Tunisia their first win of the World Cup but progressing to the next stage wasn’t in the African nation’s destiny as Denmark had no answer for Mathew Leckie’s own historic individual goal.
France had the ball in the net for an ultimately inconsequential equaliser late on but it was ruled out by VAR.
The likes of Mbappe and Olivier Giroud will now be rested and primed for France’s round of 16 fixture as Deschamps attempts to lead his charges to a second straight World Cup title.
(With AAP)
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