Australia, against all odds
Australia beat Denmark (1-0) in the final Group D match of the World Cup in Qatar and matched their 2006 feat by advancing, against all odds, to the round of 16 thanks to a Leckie counter-attacking goal that wiped out a Vikings team that rowed aimlessly.
It was up to them
It was up to the Oceania team and they didn’t miss. They were two minutes out of the last 16 when Tunisia took a provisional lead against France, but Mathew Leckie’s beautifully struck 60th-minute winner sent the Al Yanub Stadium stands into a tsunami-like earthquake in Australia.
16 years on
The Socceroos are again, 16 years later, in the last 16 of a World Cup. They did so in 2006, in what was only their second appearance at a World Cup. Now, with a team without big stars and being the ‘Cinderella’, the ‘Kangaroos’ jump to the round of 16 to give one of the big surprises of Qatar 2022.
Denmark were already losing
It was Leckie, the left winger for Melbourne City — a team in the Manchester City conglomerate of clues — who, at 31, scored the goal of his life. His running and dribbling changed the course of the game and the course of an already lost Denmark, who were unable to find the Australian goal. Graham Arnold’s side will now repeat the dream of the last 16 16 16 years later.
Australia, getting better and better
Denmark started the better, with a great chance for Jensen in the 11th minute that Mathew Ryan cancelled out. In the 18th minute, the former Valencia and Real Sociedad goalkeeper again deflected a dangerous cross from Joakim Maehle. But there the ‘Viking’ ship was lost, unable to reach an Australia increasingly far away on the green, on the scoreboard and in the group standings.
Tunisia set Australia on their way
After the break, in the 58th minute, Tunisia inadvertently set Australia off. It was two minutes since the ‘Aussies’ had been out of the World Cup. Two minutes since Tunis’ goal against France that knocked them out of Qatar 2022. And, as if they knew it, the ‘Socceroos’ went for the goal. So much so that in those two minutes, Leckie worked his magic.
Goal to send Australia into the Round of 16
The winger took advantage of a swift Australia counter-attack after winning the ball back in his own box to carouse his defender with a cut inside and then another cut back out to accurately cross the ball past goalkeeper Kasper Schmeichel. It was a goal that put the Aussies back in the last 16.
Hjulmand revolutionised the team
From that point on, Denmark coach Kasper Hjulmand revolutionised the team. He brought on strikers Kasper Dolberg – who scored in the 71st minute but was offside, and the VAR was used to cancel it out – and Andreas Cornelius, as well as changing the system. There was no way.
Australia’s new leap into history
Christian Eriksen went from strength to strength and the light from his beacon faded, as did his side’s chances of qualification. Denmark needed two goals but in truth they had no clear chances, not even for an equaliser. A Dolberg scorpion, which landed limp and soft in Ryan’s hands, was the highlight. End of the ‘Viking’ expedition and a new leap into history for the ‘Cangaroos’.
