Australia coach Graham Arnold celebrates with his players and staff after qualifying for the knockout stages at Qatar World Cup 2022 Group D match against Denmark at the Al Janoub Stadium on November 30, 2022. (REUTERS/Albert Gea)
Mathew Leckie scored a second half winner as Australia shattered Denmark’s hopes and advanced to the World Cup last 16 stage after a thrilling 1-0 win yesterday.
With France having already booked their place in the last 16, Socceroos needed a win in front of a full house at Al Janoub Stadium to join the reigning champions.
Danes had to win and wait for the result of the tie between the defending champions and Tunisia.
Tunisia stunned the Didier Deschamps’ men at the Education City Stadium with a 1-0 win – and the loss against the Socceroos left the Danish team at the bottom of the table with just one point from their draw with the Jalel Kadri-coached men.
Leckie was elated after the win which put his team in the knockout round for the first time since 2006.
“I didn’t really know what to do so I just pounded my chest,” the 31-year-old Leckie said.
“It just shows what a team we are, everyone is here for each other,” said an emotional Leckie, after his team-mates came onto the pitch to congratulate him.
Coach Graham Arnold hailed his team’s accomplishment but said he will not celebrate.
“I’m just so proud of the effort by the boys. A short turnaround, but their effort was incredible. A lot of belief. A lot of hard work,” Arnold, who has been with the Socceroos for the last four years, said.
“These boys came in with a great mindset. 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, no social media,” Arnold said during a post-match interview.
Australia’s last appearance at the knockout rounds came when they had the services of a strong line-up which included Harry Kewell, Mark Viduka and Tim Cahill, the current Chief Sports Office at Aspire Academy where the Socceroos are based during the World Cup.
Arnold was assistant to Guus Hiddink during Australia’s impressive run in Germany 16 years ago.
“Maybe we are talking about a new ‘golden generation’ now,” Arnold said.
“I am just so proud of the players’ work ethic, their commitment, their fight,” the 59-year-old said.
“We had some moments there (against Denmark) but defensively we were outstanding tonight. I truly believe that the Socceroos are the team that unite the nation.”
Denmark, who started off as one of the favourites along with France to advance, had qualified for the knockout stage on four previous occasions out of five attempts.
Kasper Hjulmand’s men dominated the opening half, but Aussie goalkeeper Mat Ryan proved to be a reliable option, thwarting Danes’ attempts on multiple occasions.
At the hour mark, Denmark lost the ball in the Australian box as Leckie finished a brilliant counter attack with a shot past Danish custodian Kasper Schmeichel.
Coach Hjulmand was extremely frustrated over the loss to Australia - ranked 39th in the FIFA rankings.
“It really irritates and frustrates me, and I am really sad,” Hjulmand said.
“There is no doubt that we did not reach our level... it is my responsibility. There was too much emotion and too little quality.”
“All my waking hours I tried to prepare as best I could,” he said. “There was a lack of enthusiasm and coherence... where did that come from?”
Danish captain Simon Kjaer was trying to stay positive despite the early exit.
“We didn’t deliver as a team, massively disappointed but that’s part of football, we were flying very high in the Euro, now we’re pretty far down,” Kjaer, who did not start yesterday due to an injury, said.
“We will have to take all the beatings and that’s right, we need to take everything. We’re an amazing team, still with a lot of quality and we have to learn from this.”
Australia will now face Argentina, who topped Group C following their 2-0 win over Poland yesterday, in the last 16.
