Australia will be an unexpected opponent in the World Cup round of 16 in Qatar after beating Denmark 1-0 in their Group D direct encounter, as favorites to finish second behind France.
In their fifth consecutive World Cup qualification and sixth since their senior debut in Germany ’74, the “Soccers” won two in the same tournament for the first time in history and repeated the feat. Germany 2006 feat When he was in the top 16 of the tournament.
In that edition in Europe, Australia, which only recorded four World Cup victories, lost in the round of 16 to eventual world champions Italy.
This will be the first matchup at the World Cup with Argentina but the memory quickly goes back to the 1993 playoff going to the United States in 1994 and surely the feeling of revenge will be latent.
With the return of Diego Maradona, Alfio Basile’s side drew 1–1 in the first leg in Sydney, but won 1–0 in the rematch with a goal from Gabriel Batistuta.
Australia’s game in this World Cup
Australia’s journey to Qatar 2022 began with a tight 4-1 win against France despite striker Craig Goodwin, one of eight A-League representatives, starting on the scoreboard.
For the second game, the team only changed right back and narrowly defeated Tunisia, which plays in Japan’s second division, with a goal by Micheal Duque.
In the “final” against Denmark, Australia prevailed thanks to a goal scored by striker Matthew Leckie of Melbourne City, a franchise of the Emirati Economic Group whose main team is Manchester City. The figure of central defender Harry Soutar in this World Cup is 1.98 meters.
Injuries plagued coach Graham Arnold’s initial plans as he suffered the loss of Martin Boyle, a Bosnian-born midfielder and midfielder who was the only man to play in Serie A for Hellas Verona, ahead of the World Cup. . Recently was fit to play 27 minutes against Tunisia and additionally against Denmark. The campaign closed with 6 points, three goals for and four against, and finished below France on goal difference.
Australia go through with their fifth consecutive classification for the World Cup and sixth since their debut in Germany ’74
Despite geographically corresponding to the continent of Oceania, the Australians have participated in the Asian qualifiers since the previous one in South Africa 2010 at the request of their leadership, as they have little differences with the rest of the football confederation of their region. (OFC).
This change, apart from raising their competitive level, was beneficial to them to the extent that they received a World Cup passport in each of their participations with their rivals from the Asian continent.
On this occasion, it was a long journey of 20 games until the knockout stage, where the Australian coach was the executioner of rivals with the Argentine coach in both games played at Ahmed Bin Ali Stadium, the same scene of the game that would be played on Saturday. , December 3 at 4:00 p.m.
First He beat UAE 2-1 Headed by “Vasco” Rodolfo Arrurabarena and then by Ricardo Gareca in the penalty shootout against Peru sealed his passport.
They secured that qualification with an invaluable contribution from controversial goalkeeper Andrew Redmayne (Sydney FC), who was sent off at the end of extra time for displaying his eccentric behavior during a 12-step ceremony.
Redmayne took center stage in the World Cup standings after spending most of the campaign in the shadow of captain Matthew Ryan, the second-most capped goalkeeper in the national team.
He denmark copenhagen footballer With pasts at Arsenal and Valencia, Ryan is a solid 30-year-old goalkeeper, playing on his third after Brazil 2014 and Russia 2018.
Graham Arnold, 59, a former defender of the “Australian” team, took over as coach after the last World Cup, with a curriculum that was almost entirely registered, a past with Australia’s clubs and youth teams.
