Just Four Things: Denmark Vs. Australia

Mixed Day For Eriksen

Portugal has Ronaldo. Argentina has Messi. Denmark has Christian Eriksen. The magical no. 10 was involved once again, this time providing the finished product of the goal. He made the run into the box seven minutes and Nicolai Jorgensen sensed it. The striker flicked the ball into the path of Eriksen.

Because one of the central defender was drawn to Jorgensen, the space was opened up for Eriksen to shoot and sent his thunderous strike past Mat Ryan. His technique behind that shot was excellent and Eriksen made it look easy. Any weaker than that, then Ryan would’ve saved it. Eriksen once again proving to be indispensable for Denmark. But he also had some moments he looked off (More on that later on the third point).

Australian Out-Fightback

Like Morocco did to Portugal, Australia responded well to salvage an equalizer. However unlike Morroco, Australia did get a slice of luck when VAR came into play. The officials behind the screens informed the referee Yussuf Poulsen handled the ball and Mile Jedinek buried his spot-kick (Although VAR officials should’ve been much quicker notifying the referee).

Australia still continued their assault. Tom Rogic and Aaron Mooy put in quite a shift in the hunt of the lead. While Australia looked threatening, they couldn’t exactly lay that decisive final ball to get to their strikers. It’s still a strong performance by the Socceroos, but it’s a shame that they only got a point out of their two group games.

Denmark Was Tougher To Deal

Just going to say this right now, Denmark proved to be harder to deal with than France. Despite Australia seemingly dominating the whole match, there was an air surrounding Denmark where they look like they have an idea on what to do with the ball going on the attack.

With Eriksen leading the charge, all they had to do is to provide for their attackers. They were in a good position to receive it, but like Australia, they also couldn’t play that final ball. If Eriksen wasn’t the one pulling the strings, it would be Thomas Delaney, but neither sadly created any more to retake the lead. Still, at least they looked competent. When France dealt with Australia, they looked all over the place.

Out With The Old, In With The New

Australia to be honest did great holding their own and creating promising attacks after encouraging performances first against France and now Denmark. But with the way they played makes it easy to forget that legendary midfielder Tim Cahill didn’t play a part in both of Australia’s games

38-year old Cahill played a huge part in Australia’s qualifying campaign when he scored 11 goals out of Australia’s 22 qualifying games. But here in the World Cup, it seems Australia has started to life without Cahill as he hasn’t played any minutes so far in the World Cup.

However, 19-year old Daniel Arzani was given the chance to come in and showed glimpses of excellence in his cameo, particularly when he did a deft touch to get past Pione Sisto by the edge of the field as he took the ball into the Denmark box. Australia has every reason to be excited for this young man. He looks fast, calm and skillful. Keep an eye on this player

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