A 1-0 VICTORY OVER DENMARK QUALIFIED AUSTRALIA FOR THE ROUND OF 16 OF THE WORLD CUP

By Rashmi Goel

There was a time less than 18 months ago when Denmark was a controversial penalty decision away from forcing a shoot-out in a European Championship semi-final. This happened against the backdrop of Christian Eriksen's cardiac arrest in the opening game of their tournament. In the absence of Eriksen, there was an expectation that Kasper Hjulmand's men could deliver something special once more at the World Cup in Qatar. It was simply impossible for them to win their final Group D match against Australia on Wednesday and deserved to be eliminated after their impotent performance resulted in a 1-0 defeat. There is no doubt that the Socceroos are the ones to advance.

For much of their clash in Al Wakrah, the Danes controlled possession, held the Socceroos back, and generally probed well, but in truth, their fallibilities in the final third always proved fatal. It is fair to say that Denmark is a pretty bad team, and Australia is simply superior to them. The lack of a forward with any kind of instinct in front of the goal was Denmark's ultimate downfall. In the wake of a goalless draw against Tunisia and a 2-1 loss to France, the Red and Whites needed to demonstrate their killer instinct in order to advance. Their alternative was Martin Braithwaite, who has scored 10 goals in 64 international appearances and tends to pass rather than shoot on sight when the opportunity arises. At the Al Janoub Stadium, he did exactly that, passing the ball off to Andreas Skov Olsen when he was in a better position to test Australian goalkeeper Mathew Ryan.

As the third player to lead the Danish line in this tournament, Braithwaite proved he was every bit the shot-shy striker with a career-high 11 goals in a league season, and the tone was set for the remainder of the competition. A number of forwards selected by Hjulmand have followed the same path during their short periods of opportunity as he had demonstrated uncertainty in his selection policy. A great deal of the Socceroos' success depended upon Eriksen, who was kept in deeper positions more often than not, by the Socceroos. As the game progressed, he started attempting shots from impossible angles, and, to be honest, it is hard to blame him. Despite having a relatively small percentage of the ball, Graham Arnold's side managed to hold the Danes at bay while still posing a threat on the break, and ultimately they had the game played on their terms. Mathew Leckie's goal was no surprise when he broke forward, turned Joakim Maehle inside out, held his nerve, and shot across Kasper Schmeichel.

In addition to Kasper Dolberg, Mikkel Damsgaard, and Andreas Cornelius, there were others thrown on, but they did not make any odds. Despite their lack of substance, Denmark thought they had a penalty for a foul on Dolberg, but the assistant's flag quickly disqualified it. There was no reason for them to score anyway. In 16 years since their last knockout qualification, Australia has come a long way to reach the round of 16 once again.