(Football news) Australia reached the World Cup knockout stage for the first time since 2006 after Mathew Leckie scored an unexpected winner to earn them a shock 1-0 win against the so called dark horses in Denmark in their final Group match. After a goalless first half, Denmark looked very lively and had more possession but Australia came from down under to score on the counter in the 60th minute when Leckie danced past the Danish defence and slotted the ball home. Australia with that result finished second with six points, level with group winners France who lost 1-0 to Tunisia. Denmark finished bottom of the group with one point as Tunisia finished third on four.
Australia now face a difficult test in the round of 16 as they face Lionel Messi’s Argentina at the Ahmad bin Ali Stadium on Dec. 3. The Socceroos’ will embrace the underdog role in that game as striker Mitch Duke who was high on the adrenaline of a win over the Danes, said that there was tremendous belief in the group. The Aussies have only qualified for the knockout rounds for only the second time in their history, having also done so 16 years ago in Germany, when they lost 1-0 to Italy in the round of 16. In the first half, Denmark created plenty of chances and could have easily taken an early lead but Jesper Lindstrom’s shot was blocked before Australia goalkeeper Mat Ryan parried away an attempt from Brentford midfielder Mathias Jensen.
Australian defence was guilty of giving space to Joakim Maehle on the left flank in the 19th minute as the defender drilled the ball into the box, but Ryan once again came to Australia’s rescue. They slowly but steadily got back into the game as they began creating chances and threatening the Danish defence. Riley McGree volley shot was saved by Kasper Schmeichel but the killer blow came in the 60th minute as they broke the deadlock through Mathew Leckie who timed his run perfectly and shot the ball through Maehle’s legs before beating Schmeichel. Denmark thought they had a lifeline 10 minutes later when the referee awarded a penalty for a foul on Kasper Dolberg, but the decision was quickly overturned after the flag was raised for offside.
“Mate, bring on whoever. I feel like we could take on anyone right now. That’s the belief we have in the group. We go out with that mentality that we went [out with] tonight, I think we could go up against anyone and get a result. I’m proud, exhausted, everything really. It’s hard to describe the emotions right now. We always knew we could do it as a group. We had our doubters but our spirit, our belief, our work ethic and how close we are as a group shows on the pitch. The last 15, 20 minutes we battled until the end. It didn’t matter what they threw at us, we weren’t conceding. We’ll make the most of it tonight, but then it’s all about recovery.”
Leckie told Australian broadcasters
“Too emotional with too little quality against Australia. We haven’t played with the tempo and the rhythm in our own game. I think we started pretty well tonight, with good positions. And then you see the structures just go out of the match. It’s too emotional and too little quality, and it’s the only thing we shouldn’t do against Australia in a match like this, go in with big emotions and lots of fight — we have to play with quality.”
Denmark coach Kasper Hjulmand
“We’ve been working on this for four-and-a-half years, and I could see in their eyes they were ready tonight. No celebrations tonight! That’s why we won after a great win against Tunisia — no celebrations, no emotion, sleep and no social media.”
Arnold Australian Coach
Also read: 2022 World Cup: Mexico knocked out despite defeating Saudi Arabia
