World Cup, Group C, Denmark vs Australia as it happened: Australia dominate but Danes get a draw
Live updates from the third game in Group C.
Australia 1-1 Denmark
7’: Eriksen (DEN)
39’: Jedinak (pen, AUS)
Group C preview: France favourites, but tough battle for second spot. Read here.
FT: And that is how it ends. A point for each of the sides. Australia dominated gameplay but the Danes held on for a draw.
90’: Schmeichel’s had to come up with two big saves to make sure the scores stayed level. 3 minutes time added on.
87’: Finally, Denmark keep the ball for a while. Good, patient build-up but Delaney’s final cross was wayward to say the least. His team-mates were not happy.
79’: Once again, Australia go close. Arzani beat the defender and his cross across the face of goal could have led to a goal if someone had got a foot onto it. No one did. Denmark are having some serious trouble keeping the ball. They just haven’t been able to string passes together. Not good.
72’: Cornelius who can on for Jorgensen in the 68th minute is a statistical oddity.
71’: Another left-footer from Rogic. Australia are taking their shots but their final shots have left something to be desired. The build-up play has been wonderful.
70’: Mody lets loose a screamer from just outside the D. He caught it well and it didn’t miss by much. Australia are building up a dangerous rhythm here.
65’: Denmark have been chasing the ball which Australia have kept surprisingly well. Another chance for Australia! Schmeichel with a mistake and Australia go close again. They get a corner.
64’: A lot of play is not taking place in the Denmark half. The Danes are being pretty passive here. Eriksen needs to get involved a lot more. A creative presence to cut through the Australian defence is the need of the hour for them.
58’: Poulsen, whose handball led to the penalty, is being taken off and Braithwaite is coming on.
54’: Good stuff by Australia... overall their ball movement has been better than Denmark. Denmark need to wake up and take control if they want to win this.
51’: Denmark protesting after Poulsen was brought down in the penalty area. But we are not going to VAR. The use of VAR sometimes feels like...
46’: And we are a go again.
HT: VAR impact in penalties has been huge.
HT: But was that really deliberate? There is no way he would have know the ball would have gone there and his hand was already up much before the ball hit his hand.
HT: Eriksen got the early goal but then VAR gave Australia the opportunity to even things out by awarding a penalty. Jedinak converted easily. Still, Australia have played well after conceding an early goal – they have looked like the better side; a side with more purpose.
44’: This is what Australia were awarded a penalty for. What is your take?
39’: GOAL! Yet another corner – Australia’s 4th as against Denmark’s 1 – and a penalty comes out of it! Paulsen handball and VAR comes to Australia’s rescue. This one is going to be debated for a long, long time. The handball looked to be unintentional – VAR ruled otherwise. Jedinak stepped up to convert his second penalty of the tournament.
29’: Denmark have never lost a competitive game in which Eriksen has scored. They will be hoping that trend continues. Australia are throwing men forward in a spirited display after conceding the goal but nothing has come of it. Yet. Another wonderful move down the right flank by Leckie, but Denmark had bodies in the way.
24’: Wonderful opportunity for Jorgensen. Lovely cross from the right flank reached him just as he managed to get behind a struggling Australian defence, which was caught napping. But he failed to hit the target.
23’: Another shot on goal by Rogic. It wasn’t a great shot though. No power and it was always going wide. Denmark are in control here.
19’: Not much has happened since the goal. Australia have kept their shape but still scoring first has proved to be a big advantage in this World Cup. Nine matches in this edition have already ended 1-0.
11’: Australia have been getting corners but not doing much with them. Eriksen was the youngest player playing in the 2010 World Cup (he was just 18 then) but his increasing maturity in front of goal is making him a very dangerous player indeed. For now, he has people talking about the Laudrup brothers again.
7’: GOOOOAAAALLL!!!! And it is that man Eriksen again. He had an assist in the first game and now he has a goal. Wonderful technique. It would have been easy to get the weight balance wrong and smash it way over the top. He didn’t and Denmark are into the lead. 13 goals and 5 assists for Eriksen in his last 15 caps!!!
5’: Leckie with the header for Australia but he couldn’t keep it down. He timed his jump well and rose above the defenders to meet the ball but the direction was poor.
2’: Delaney with the header but couldn’t direct it goalward. Australia will look to soak up the pressure in the early going – they will not want to concede an early goal.
1’: Denmark wearing white today. Australia in green. Denmark have gone 534 minutes (before the start of this game) since they last conceded a game. They will be tough to break down but Australia will HAVE to push forward today.
5:28 pm: National anthems done. Must-win game for Australia – unchanged from the first game. Denmark will depend on Eriksen to produce some magic once again.
5:05 pm: Time for a walk down memory lane, on this day in 1970 – Brazil became the last country to win the Jules Rimet trophy. They defeated Italy 4-1 in the final at Mexico City to become the first country to win the competition three times. The trophy was then replaced by the current design.
5:01 pm: Australia and Denmark have faced off three times before. They were all friendlies and Australia have come out on top once.
4:54 pm: Australia were pretty good in their first match of the tournament but they have lost their last four consecutive World Cup fixtures.
Lineups
Denmark: Schmeichel, Dalsgaard, Kjaer, Christensen, Larsen, Eriksen, Schone, Delaney, Sisto, Poulsen, Jorgensen
Australia: Ryan, Risdon, Sainsbury, Milligan, Behich, Jedinak, Mooy, Rogic, Leckie, Kruse, Nabbout
04:37 pm: Les Bleus play later today. What do we make out France’s game against Australia?
On the face of it, a 2-1 win over Australia seems perfectly alright, with three points on the board to get the French engine up and running.
The result masks the ineffectual displays of many of the starting XI against the Socceroos, with Didier Deschamps openly questioning Antoine Griezmann’s antics on the eve of the World Cup. The front three failed to link up with the midfield, with too much space between the two banks of Frenchmen.
04:33 pm: Australia are on a run of four consecutive defeats at the World Cup. Will the run end against Denmark?
Meanwhile, the Sydney Harbour bridge looks spectacular ahead of the match today.
04:26 pm: Australia’s lineup is in and they are unchanged from their 1-2 defeat against France.
04:20 pm: Today’s venue...
04:15 pm: Christian Eriksen didn’t have the best of games against Peru, but still ended up with an assist for the solitary goal – that’s the quality he possesses. Here he is, talking about the game today. Kick-off at 530 pm IST.
04:11 pm: Iran may have lost last night, but back home, history was being made.
04:08 pm: This is how things stand in Group C after one game. Denmark can go top with a point, and almost be assured of a spot in the last 16 with a win.
04:05 pm: Hello all and welcome to The Field’s live blog of the first game of the day, where Denmark take on Australia in a Group C encounter. The Danes managed to withstand Peru’s assault in their opening game to emerge with three points while Australia went down