Australia players in action during a training session at the Aspire Zone. AFP
A victory today will guarantee Australia a place in the knockout rounds for the first time since 2006 as Denmark will need to secure full points in their crucial FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 Group D clash at Al Janoub Stadium today.
A draw would be sufficient for Australia if Tunisia fail to beat the defending champions France in the day’s other game.
After picking up a 1-0 win over Tunisia on Saturday following a 4-1 loss against France, Australia are second in the group with three points behind France who have already qualified.
Denmark are third in Group D after drawing 0-0 with Tunisia before losing to France 2-1.
The winner of today’s game will meet whoever tops Group C, which is wide open with one more round to go.
Saturday’s win over Tunisia was Socceroos’ third-ever World Cup win, and their first since 2010 when they beat Serbia in South Africa.
Their record against the European sides may be a reason to worry, having lost eight of their 11 meetings, but Australia coach Graham Arnod is aware of the magnitude of the task when they take on the Danes who are ranked 10th in the FIFA computer.
“They’re a strong team. They are ranked number 10 in the world for a reason, but the focus is solely on ourselves and making sure the players recover well and are in a good head space and are ready to go. Denmark have been a top team throughout Europe for a long, long time and we’ve been watching them for a long, long time.
We can only do so much worrying about them, the focus has be on ourselves,”Arnold said on the eve of the match.
“We know they can play two systems, so we’ve got to be prepared for both of them tactically but it’s about getting our game right,” Arnold added.
Meanwhile, Denmark are in an unusual position, having to battle hard for a place in the knockout round.
Danes have only scored once so far in Qatar, but coach Kasper Hjulmand played down criticism ahead of today’s clash.
“You cannot expect to push a button and expect to score a lot of goals,” Hjulmand said after the game against France.
“We have a lot of good strikers and we were very close (to scoring).”
The 50-year-old was optimistic ahead of today’s game which will decide their fate.
“The way it looks now everyone is ready,” said Hjulmand.
“We have 26 players they all deserve to play. They are all good enough and deserve to play. All we have to look at is what kind of technical approach should we take tomorrow, what structure should we play with, who do we know fits together. I trust all the players we have brought so there is many ways to do it.”
After a disappointing performance against Tunisia, Hjulmand made drastic changes to his forward line for France, bringing in Andreas Cornelius and Jesper Lindstrom before calling in Martin Braithwaite to replace Cornelius.
However, Denmark's goal came from defender Andreas Christensen.
However, Hjulmand said the structures are different from game to game.
“Structures are always different from game to game, it is not always the same structure,” said Hjulmand.
“But the identity the philosophy is always the same the way we play should be the same every time.
“It’s about winning and we try our best to do that and play our socks off.”
Danish centre-back Harry Souttar said today’s match will be an incredible test for his team.
“It’s going to be an incredible test ... it’s all on the line for both teams and it’s what you play football for, the big moments,” Souttar said.
Denmark will miss Thomas Delaney who suffered a knee injury in the game against Tunisia. Lindstrom and Victor Nelsson are both likely to come back in against Australia.
On the other hand, Arnold’s team is yet to decide on Nathanial Atkinson’s presence in today’s game, after the right-back missed the second Group match against Tunisia due to an injury.
Arnold noted that midfielder Ajdin Hrustic will be available for today’s match, adding that his ambition is to get two wins and “get the most wins at one World Cup.”
“I’ve never coached to play for a draw, it’s all about winning. Putting smiles on Australian faces once is not enough, let’s do it some more times,” Arnold said.
When: Today at 6:00pm
Where: Al Janoub Stadium
Key stats:
* Denmark must beat Australia to have any chance of advancing to the last 16.
* Australia are currently second in the group and can go through with a draw if Tunisia fail to beat France, who are already through.
* Australia have only made it out of the group stage once, in Germany in 2006, where they lost 1-0 to Italy in the last 16.
* The Danes have made the last 16 four times (1986, 1998, 2002 and 2018). They reached the quarters in 1998 in France.
* This is the second consecutive World Cup in which Australia have played in the same group as Denmark and France.
* Denmark scored 30 goals in their 10 World Cup qualifiers but have managed only one in Qatar, scored by defender Andreas Christensen.
Previous meetings:
* Australia and Denmark have met four times previously. The most recent meeting was at the 2018 World Cup, which ended in a 1-1 draw. The Danes hold the upper hand with two victories to Australia's one.
