World Cup in Qatar – The sensation: Australia beats Denmark (1-0) and qualifies for the round of 16!

Without ideas, Denmark never found the key

The resolutely offensive composition of Kasper Hjulmand was to set the tone: an unbridled approach animated by a duo of sharp dribblers on the sides, Jesper Lindström on the left, Andreas Skov Olsen on the right. During the first fifteen minutes, the plan established by the Scandinavian herald went in the right direction. Harry Souttar (10th) and Mathew Ryan (11th) were quickly put to work. Real poison between the lines, Skov Olsen could not catch the frame on his attempt at the entrance to the surface (14th). A final scare after a tumble from Joakim Maehle in the area (19th), and the Socceroos gradually got their heads above water.

Shaken in the duels, the Vikings began to fumble their football, struggling to find the right balance between short game and long game. If the use of the sides at the start of the meeting was promising, the many balls then deposited towards the axis did not lead to much, the fault being the height of the Australian centrals. As the minutes passed, the tension gradually won over the Danish camp, while the Australians began to gain confidence and fully exploit the few balls scraped against (22nd, 41st).

16 years later, Australia repeats the feat

No longer awake after the break, the Red and Whites suffered a new opportunity signed Jackson Irvine (48th). Clumsy at the time of conclusion, the Aussie however perfectly played the role of last passer ten minutes later. Launched at the limit of offside by Irvine, Mathew Leckie multiplied the hooks and body feints in front of Andreas Christensen and Joakim Maehle, before deceiving Kasper Schmeichel with a cross shot from the left close to the post (1-0, 60th ).

The shock wave immediately ran through the bays of the Al-Janoub enclosure, where we learned a few seconds later of the Tunisian opener against France. The calculation was then very simple with the Vikings, you had to score twice to get out of it. Unable to get around a perfectly organized block and overtaken in the air by the Harry Souttar and Kye Rowles turrets, Christian Eriksen’s partners sent balls without much conviction into the opposing area, for a very meager result on arrival.

The heroic score of the Socceroos opens the doors to the eighth round, and this for the second time in their history, 16 years after the first. Denmark are already out, caught up in their lack of speed and pace in building. A soothing game and a porous defense which will have precipitated the fall of a serious outsider of the competition. A surprise, one more, in this 2022 World Cup. And certainly not the last.