Talking points as Denmark and Australia play out hard fought 1-1 draw in Samara

Alex Broun 17:55 21/06/2018
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  • Denmark and Australia battled to a hard fought 1-1 draw in Group C of the World Cup in Samara on Thursday.

    A Christian Eriksen thunderbolt put Denmark 1-0 up after just seven minutes before Mile Jedinak evened it up with VAR assisted penalty after 38 minutes. Both teams fought hard to create chances in the second half without finding the crucial winner.

    The result means Denmark are on four points after their two matches with Australia on just one.

    Here are our talking points from the match.

    Eriksen goal arguably the best of World Cup so far

    Denmark’s first goal was indeed Danish Dynamite and probably the best goal of the tournament to date.

    It came from nothing with Aaron Mooy heading the ball out of the danger area only to see it knocked back in speculatively by Ajax midfielder Lasse Schone.

    Feyenoord striker Nicolai Jorgenson got two superb touches on the edge of the box to lay it in the path of Tottenham star Christian Eriksen who hit the half-volley with a snarling left foot strike that cannoned into the back of the net.

    The goal was a knife through the heart of Australia who had started brightly but already staring down the barrel of exiting the tournament after their loss to France, it gave Bert van Marwijk’s side a mountain to climb.

    The Socceroos fought back through a penalty to Mile Jedinak but the draw may not be enough to earn them a path to the round of 16.

    Australia competitive but in the end caution cruelled their chances

    There was very little between the sides with the 36th ranked Australia more than matching the 12th ranked Danes.

    But what the Socceroos missed was a little more killer instinct in front of goal. Time and time again Australia got into good positions and sent some tempting balls skimming across the six yard box, but time and time again there was no one to meet them.

    You can understand the caution of manager Bert van Marwijk not wanting to leave his side open to the dangerous Danes but to put themselves back in with a chance of making the knockout stages this was a match Australia had to win.

    With Daniel Arzani coming off the bench on 67 minutes to ask some real questions of the Danish defence, the introduction of experienced goal poacher Tim Cahill might have been just what Australia needed to get the winner.

    But instead the cautious Van Marwijk went for Hull midfielder Jackson Irvine who was hardly noticeable and not surprisingly failed to produce the winner.

    It’s not over till its over

    Despite just one point from two matches Australia’s World Cup is not over – yet. No matter what the result of the France-Peru match later on Thursday Australia can still reach the knockout stages, depending on results on the final day of matches in Group C.

    What makes the group so close is the lack of goals with Denmark boasting a 2-1 (+1) goal difference and Australia a 1-2 (-1) .

    Australia play Peru in their last match and a win for the Socceroos by two goals, taking them to +1, and a loss for Denmark by even one goal against France (seeing them slip to an even goal difference) would see Australia through to the last 16.

    Permutations get even more interesting if France lose or draw against Peru today further increasing Australia’s chances of reaching the last 16 for the second time in their history.

    In Group C there is still lots to play for.

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