Denmark 1-1 Australia: 5 Talking Points, World Cup 2018
Scorers: Christian Eriksen (DEN) 7th Minute: Mile Jedinak (AUS) 38th Minute
As the whistle blew for full-time, both sets of fans were left wondering what could have been. A breathless encounter between Denmark and Australia ended with both teams sharing a spoil of the points. Unfortunately for Australia, it leaves them in a precarious position if they are to qualify for the knockout stages.
Denmark though should thank their lucky stars as they were forced on the back-foot time and again by the team from Down Under. Indeed what was surprising was the manner in which Australia took the game to Denmark. The Danes were at the time left grasping thin air as they tried to curtail the Australian forwards and praise should be reserved for the Australians who failed to acknowledge nervousness ahead of this tie.
The Danes know depending on other results a draw will be enough for them to get them out of the group, whereas for the Aussies, they will have to win and hope other results go their way. In lieu of that, here is look at some of the talking points of this game:-
#1 Vibrant Aussies give Danes a torrid time
Australia must have left with the feeling of being short-changed after their meet against the Danes. With the exception of the first 15 minutes, the men from Ozzieland did more than test the Danish defence. They dominated possession and were innovative in attack as they created chances after chances without being able to create a clear-cut one.
The penalty though was a deserved one as Poulsen was found guilty of a handball after raising his arms. More importantly, replays revealed that the Dane had indeed moved his arm towards the ball and somewhat helped change the direction of the flight of the ball. Fans may argue that there wasn’t any intention but referees are trained to judge the action of the player at that moment and not their psychological stage and hence the penalty was rightly awarded.
Words of praise should be reserved for the Australian forward, Leckie who soared over his marker to direct a header which was blocked by the flailing arm of Yussuf Poulsen, the scorer of the goal against Peru in their first group fixture against Peru. The paucity of crisp finishing will haunt Aussies if they finally slip out of the tournament.