When Tunisia somewhat surprisingly took the lead against France, both Denmark and Australia depended on scoring to progress in the championship. After one hour of play, the score was still 0–0. – What a situation, commented news’s Andreas Stabrun Smith. And soon after Australia – against the run of play – should score. With a wonderful sunny performance, after an Australia counterattack, Matthew Leckie scored 1–0. Thus, Denmark had to score two to progress from Group D – which France tops. They couldn’t do that. Thus, Denmark loses the match 1–0 and is eliminated from the WC. Australia, on the other hand, can cheer for advancement to the round of 16. HERO: Matthew Leckie sent Australia to the World Cup round of 16 with his goal. Photo: CHANDAN KHANNA / AFP – It is extremely disappointing. They have not been anywhere near the level we expected. I had great faith in Denmark. I put them together with teams like the Netherlands, Germany – teams on the shelf behind Brazil. So it’s very disappointing, but they get what they deserve over three games, says news’s Kristoffer Løkberg. Many experts singled out Denmark as a contender in this year’s WC. When Åge Hareide met Christian Eriksen before the championship, they talked together that a WC final was not completely impossible. That says something about the expectations ahead. The result was one poor point and jumbo placement in the group. Løkberg receives resoundingly clear support from former Denmark boss Hareide in the news studio. STANGET: Robert Skov and Pierre-Emile Højbjerg had it tough against Australia. Photo: PAUL ELLIS / AFP – There is a crisis. It has not reached the level they have been at. But they get what they deserve, says Hareide “Danish nightmare”, also wrote Ekstra Bladet when the World Cup hope faded. The pressure Although the match was directly decisive for both teams, life in the stands at Al Janoub Stadium did not reflect that. There were surprisingly few supporters from both Denmark and Australia present, and the match atmosphere had a strong tourist feel. It stood in stark contrast to many of the other matches in the World Cup, where supporters from several different continents have provided a memorable setting around many of the matches news has been present at. Denmark pressed before the break, but could not get the big chances. Christian Eriksen was, among other things, forward with a shot, but it went just over a meter to the side for the Australia goal. DUEL: The teams’ big stars Aaron Mooy Christian Eriksen fight for the ball. Photo: Thanassis Stavrakis / AP Tunisia surprised with victory Denmark continued to have a lot of the ball after the break, but it was Australia who would score. Worry had also gotten worse for the Danes when Tunisia went up in the lead against France and moved from Denmark in the group. Just before the hour mark, Tunisia won the ball inside the center circle. Wahbi Khazri received the ball 40 meters from goal and quickly advanced forward. The striker got into the 16-metre area with a nice feint and had a shot from 15 metres. There he could see the ball roll calmly past France goalkeeper Steve Mandanda and into the goal. – What a solo score. He has been enormous in this match, said news’s expert commentator Carl-Erik Torp. Tunisia thus stood on four points, while Denmark, which had opened with 0–0 against Tunisia before there was a narrow 1-2 loss against France in the last game, was still on one. It also resulted in the one point in group D. This means that the WC is over for Kasper Hjulmand and Denmark for this time. Just before the end, Antoine Griezmann also equalized for France, which means that the match ends 1-1. TV 2’s expert Jesper Mathisen was far from impressed by what he saw of the Danes in Wednesday’s fateful match. – No one will miss the Danes as long as they perform as they do today… Awkward and unimaginative! Incredibly disappointing, is the verdict from the TV 2 expert on Twitter.
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