November 29, 2022, 9:23 AM
November 29, 2022, 9:23 AM
Semifinalist of the last Eurocup, Denmark are bound to beat Australia on Wednesday to get a ticket to the round of 16 of Qatar-2022, although for this they will also have to look askance at the other clash in Group D.
Denmark, which has only 1 point, would overtake Australia (3) second place in the group if they emerge victorious from their duel on Wednesday (11:00) at the Al Janoub stadium (44,325 seats).
In parallel it will be played the other game of the key between the already classified France (6) and Tunisia (1)who can still advance if they beat the ‘Bleus’ by more goals than an eventual Danish victory.
Australia, for its part, can benefit from a victory against the Nordic team as a draw as long as Tunisia does not beat France.
In order to get out the calculator, Denmark will have to find a way to achieve their first victory in Qatarwhere until now they had to settle for a 0-0 draw against Tunisia and a 2-1 defeat against France, knocked down by a brace from star Kylian Mbappé.
The team led by the talented Christian Eriksen, back to the top stage after the cardiac arrest that It almost cost him his life a year ago at the Eurocupheld the score to zero in the first half against the defending champions and came to tie 1-1 with a header from Barcelona center back Andreas Christensen.
But four minutes from regulation time, Mbappe caught a cross from Antoine Griezmann to seal the French classification and force Denmark to go out to win on the last day if they want to return to the round of 16, a phase in which they fell in 2018 on penalties against the later runner-up Croatia.
In his six World Cup appearances, Denmark has only fallen once (2010) in the group stage.
– The example of the Euro –
In the memory of the Scandinavian team there is a memory that gives them optimism, that of the Euro Cup last year.
Denmark started losing to Finland and Belgium, but a win in the third game was enough to clinch second place in the group and then accelerate to the semifinals even with the absence of Eriksenwho in Qatar needs more support from his teammates on the offensive.
“You can’t expect to just push a button and score a lot of goals.” noted coach Kasper Hjulmand. “But we also had zero points after the first two Euro games, so we still have hope.”
We hope to return to the path of victory and win the next game, but we have great respect for Australia,” he stressed.
Australia, on their side, already knows the victory in Qatar with their 1-0 win over Tunisiawhich gives him more room for maneuver for Wednesday.
The ‘Socceroos’, who had also advanced on the scoreboard against Francebut they ended up thrashed 4-1, this time withstood the harassment launched by Tunisia after the goal by striker Mitch Duke.
Now they are just one point away from entering the best 16 teams and equal his best result in a World Cup, achieved by the great generation of his country led by Mark Viduka, Harry Kewell and Tim Cahill in 2006.
