Australia’s Mitchell Duke (3rd bottom) heads the ball during their Group D match against Tunisia at the Al Janoub Stadium. AFP
Doha: Forward Mitchell Duke scored through a header as Australia beat Tunisia 1-0 in a Group D clash of the FIFA World Cup yesterday.
The Socceroos held on gallantly at the Al Janoub Stadium after taking the lead in the 23rd minute as the North African country came back strongly in the second half, to keep alive their chances of qualifying from a group that also has defending champions France and Denmark.
Australia fought hard for the win that came after the 4-1 drubbing against France in their opening game while Tunisia held Denmark in a 0-0 draw in their first fixture.
Duke, who flicked a Craig Goodwin’s cross into the far corner beating Tunisian keeper Aymen Dahmen’s desperate dive, dedicated his goal to his son and said it was a moment he would hold very dear to the rest of his life.
“I spoke to my son when I got selected for the World Cup,” said Duke who plays for Japanese club Fagiano Okayama.
“You have to have that belief you can score [and] I told my son I would share that moment with him. [The celebration] was a little ‘J’ for the first letter of his name. I haven’t seen it yet but apparently he did it back to me in the stadium. It is a moment I will hold very dear for the rest of my life.”
The victory was Australia’s third in six visits to the World Cup finals and it snapped a seven-match winless streak since they beat Serbia
in 2010.
The goal was the first conceded by Tunisia against any team barring Brazil in their last 11 matches and Australia’s fighting spirit was praised by their coach Graham Arnold.
“I’m hugely proud of the boys. They showed Aussie fighting spirit. They were in their faces all the time and I’m sure they made the nation very proud,” Arnold said.
“The other night we played against the current world champions [France] and the boys showed the same effort today. When the doubters hate us, bring it on.”
The Carthage Eagles were cheered by thousands of red-clad supporters and initially they focused on their defence but when the Australians scored in the first half they had to change their game plan in the second to find the equalizer. They showed more intent after the break but the Socceroos were equal to the task.
Tunisia brought on the squad’s top scorer Wahbi Khazri in the 68th minute but neither him nor captain Youssef Msakni and Mohamed Drager could go past Australian goalkeeper and skipper Mat Ryan.
While their experienced playmaker and Celtic midfielder Aaron Mooy expertly marshaled the Socceroos, Stoke City’s Harry Souttar put in a master class of defence. Souttar shone right throughout as the centre-back blocked a number of shots and effected several successful tackles against the oncoming Tunisian attack.
“We lacked the final touch and weren’t realistic. The performance in the first half was not up to expectations and we did not create many chances,” Tunisian coach Jalel Kadri told reporters. “The situation changed in the second half and we created several chances, but we failed to put the ball in.” “Australia forced us to play with their style and we were more reacting rather than acting, and Australia relied on physical strength. So we can’t say that we produced a bad performance overall but we lacked effectiveness in front of goal.”
In their final group matches on Wednesday Tunisia will meet France while Australia will take on Denmark.
“Even the larger squads have been defeated by the underdogs. It is very disappointing we lost today, but we still have one more match to go,” Kadri said.
“We will play with all the confidence we have. We will play with our hearts out. I hope we will be lucky next time,” he said about the tough challenge against France.
“We will let football surprise us. We will go all in and perform to our best levels.”
