As the Socceroos trained at the Samara Arena on Wednesday, there was a faint sense that they had been in this position before. Rewind 12 months and an almost-identical Australian national team was in Russia preparing to play Cameroon in their second match of the 2017 Confederations Cup. They had narrowly lost to a European heavyweight in the opening match, and had a tough encounter with an ominous South American side ahead. Like that match with the African champions, Australia’s meeting with Denmark will define their campaign at this tournament, for better or for worse.
Last June, Australia underwhelmed against Cameroon and departed Saint Petersburg with an unhelpful point. The draw doomed Australia to a group-stage exit, notwithstanding a spirited concluding performance against Chile. Although the same result against the Denmark would leave the Socceroos with a mathematical possibility of reaching the second round, their prospects of progression would be bleak. For Bert van Marwijk’s players, a win on Thursday (10pm AEST) is the only palatable result.
“We know what we have to do,” defender Aziz Behich said. “We went into the last game to get all three points, even though it was against France. We know what we have to do tomorrow to make sure we stay in the competition.”
An imposing midfield performance from captain Mile Jedinak and Huddersfield Town’s Aaron Mooy kept France’s creative dynamos in check in Kazan, and a similar performance will be needed against Christian Eriksen. “First we have to do exactly the same as what we did against France, with a lot of discipline,” said Van Marwijk. “Now we have to find in detail where the Danish must have problems.”
The Dutchman refused to speculate about his plans for stopping Eriksen. “You can ask me those questions 100 times,” he said. The attacking midfielder started his senior career at Ajax while Van Marwijk was in charge of the Dutch national team. “I know Eriksen because I saw him in Holland, and at Tottenham. I know him.”
The major headache for Van Marwijk is an absence of attacking impetus. The Socceroos forward line failed to trouble France on Saturday, with the team’s only goal coming from a penalty. Denmark have recorded five consecutive clean sheets and their goalkeeper, Leicester City’s Kasper Schmeichel, has been in stellar form.
Unless strikers Andrew Nabbout or Tomi Juric can offer improvement on their last outings (the former started against France and was replaced by the latter), Van Marwijk might be forced to consider his options. Veteran Tim Cahill and wonderkid Daniel Arzani – respectively the oldest and youngest player in the Australian squad – are two possibilities at the Dutchman’s disposal.
“We had a few chances against France,” the manager said. “Maybe we have to have more chances against Denmark.”
Van Marwijk drew confidence from Peru’s profligacy in front of goal against the Danes on the weekend. “The Peruvians got a lot of chances – that will be maybe very important.”
The arrival of Van Marwijk as Australian coach was hailed in some quarters as a pragmatic break from the philosophy-first football of predecessor Ange Postecoglou. But unless the new manager can mastermind a win against Denmark on Thursday, the Socceroos will likely depart Russia in a similar fashion to 2017. “The Danish are a strong team,” van Marwijk mused. “They are No 12 in the world – that says enough.”
