SAMARA, Russia, June 20 (Xinhua) -- Conceding a 1-1 draw after a fruitless second half of attacking endeavours against Denmark on Thursday, Australia was left with hope of progressing from Group C only if they manage to defeat Peru in five days.
With a line-ups of six players having a stature of 190cm and above, Denmark was barely taken advantage of by the Australians from the air, after the kickoff whistle was blown. At the same time, the Danes manifested good performance on the ground in terms of skills and agility.
Seven minutes into the game, Nicolai Jorgensen got the ball in the box, before he passed it with the outside of his boot to the unmarked trailing Christian Eriksen. The Tottenham midfielders thrilling left-footed half-volley gave the Danes a 1-0 lead.
Australia soon restored from the early blow. By taking control of the midfield, the Aussies managed to press their opponents.
Thirty minutes later, Mathew Leckies header from a corner kick cross hit the sprawling arm of Yussuf Yurary Poulsen. After applying to the on-field review system, the referee pointed to the 12-foot mark and booked Poulsen, who will miss the next match against France as a consequence.
Mile Jedinak calmly converted the the fifth penalty awarded after a VAR review in the tournament, while the Danish goal keeper Kasper Schmeichel was sent to the wrong side. The captains equaliser lit up the enthusiasm of over 12,000 Australian fans in the arena.
However, after several unfruitful waves of attacking attempts in the second half, Australia conceded a draw, which leaves them no choice but to extract three points from the next match against Peru, in order to preserve a possibility to progress to the knock-out stages.
In the last round of group stages, Denmark will play France on June 26, while the showdown between Australia and Peru is to kickoff simultaneously.
