I need to see a clip of it again, because I didn't even notice what he was blowing the whistle for initially. The look on his face when he looked over and then signalled for offside reminded me of the time I did that refereeing a game a few years back. Blew the whistle for the penalty, but heard the goalkeeper yell out "but he's offside" before I could actually signal it, and then looked over to the linesman (clubbie from the team that would have earned the penalty) and fair enough he had his flag out.

Souttar sort of did seem to almost fling an arm out but it was really more of a normal tussle made to look awkward coz of the foot difference in height.
Maybe on watching it again later I will see it was as bad as the ref thought

I agree.
I was so genuinely happy for him when he was even just named in the squad.
And yeah no way he would be playing for us were it not for young family/pandemic years uncertainty etc
He is the best player in the league and I'm not sure it's even close.

OK OK I promise no more United talk here aha

Melbourne City's first game back is away as well.
I know we hate when the league messes with fixtures but to be honest they have messed with fixtures for dumber reasons than this

That ref was so obviously against us from the start. $$$$

Very much this. Straight after Behich's early yellow, I felt sick in the guts with the dreaded 'here we go again' thoughts in my head. I thought the ref gave us a hard time. But what a monumental fucking effort from everyone. Souttar is just other worldly, Leckies goal from the counter attack was superb, I even thought Jackson Irvine played exceptionally well. And Baccus, what an important shift he put in. So proud of the team. In meetings at work today all I'm doing is talking Socceroo's, and I have to say, there's lots of people not normally interested ready to watch on Sunday morning.

Unbelievable! 

I cant put into words what I just saw, wow!

The effort and commitment but crucially we were composed along the way to get the result especially what was happening in the France vs Tunisia game was incredible.

Leckie! I will eat my words when are not the technically the best player because that individual effort was insane, the composure especially with no support to score that goal will go down in the history books.

Now we play Argentina in the round of 16, which for me is a bonus especially what we are about to encounter against the genius in Lionel Messi who is on a quest to win the World Cup and to become the GOAT we are ones in the way? Cant describe how enormous this achievement is for Aus. football, considering the weak squad we have but this team plays amazing as a collective compared to the 2006 team who have more talent so I dont see why they cant have a chance a cause an upset on Sunday morning.

What an amazing moment for Australian football and for whole nation in general too, relish and celebrate the moment!!! 

TBH before the goal Leckie looked like a headless chook at times and a heavy touch, I actually thought he was going to trip himself up on the goal lol - just awesome to finish that.

But I tell you want, he leaves it all on the pitch and his endeavour is a quality you need for these games.

So
what about something like this?  Soz just stirring Im in far to good of a mood today :)

Ha ha even on all but my worst days I'd agree with you there along with 98% of a-league fans.

I'm the one here calling for the fixture to be changed/rigged for homecomings though so what do I know about integrity!

TBH, have you seen some of the recent Atletico madrid and barca ones with superheroes...anyway dont want to derail thread :) 

I was very impressed by Denmark  in the  first 25 minutes. I take my hat off to them.  The current Tunisia or  Socceroos can never play that well ATM. In pure football terms they were the second best team in the group. They should have progressed past the group.

Denmark's Squeezing (the act of closing down  space within the type of Press) of  the Socceroos in our Ball  Possession and  Attacking Transitions, was brilliant. Every time the Socceroos regained the ball in the Attacking Transitions in particular, or had the ball in  Ball Possession, their Full Pressing and Three Quarter Pressing in our defensive half of the pitch, multiple Danish players swarmed on our player in possession, and closed down  most viable passing lanes.

It wasn't  that the Socceroos were playing badly. They just did not have the level of technique and handling speed ( time taken to receive the ball and pass  it on) to play through the limited time and space Denmark forced Aus to play in.

Then when they had the ball, they supported each other brilliantly in short passing, plus they hit long accurate diagonal passes to  their wingers in wide spaces. It enabled  Danish wingers to receive with the ideal body shape facing forwards. Plus their wingers were quick and skilful.

How did we win then?

*Denmark started to panic. They had played 5 halves of WC football in Qatar, and had only scored one goal - against France. Plus they knew they needed to win the game, not draw it.  They had no idea that Tunisia would beat France.

*And Denmark were out of their comfort zone. Like many European teams, playing football outside Europe - in Asia, Africa, Central America, South America - they underperform.  Germany and Netherlands are good travellers. They finished 3rd and 1st, and 2nd and 3rd, respectively, in the African WC in 2010 and South  America in 2014.  Denmark are ranked number 10 in the world, playing in Europe - not all over the  globe.

  * The mental and physical effort of Squeezing that Denmark applied  is energy sapping and  mentally draining. It was superbly coached by the Danish coaching staff. To Squeeze intensively in Full and Three Quarter pressing is hard to coach. Most teams can only last an hour doing it - at best. The Danes ran  out of physical  and mental gas.

* The compact shape and organisation of the Socceroo defence. Arnold has coached the Socceroos to be almost a wall to the Tunisian and Danish attacks since being porous  playing France. The distance between the lines, and within the lines, has almost been  close to ideal - and - for sustained periods. The communication and organisation has been excellent. It has been a compact defence - the best in Socceroo history. Credit to defensive  supercoach -  Arnie. 

The ideal distancing in the 4-4-2 defensive shape in BPO is circa 10 metres - which the Socceroos achieved. Socceroos have had one defender  apply pressure to the opposition ball carrier, or player in possession, whilst other Socceroo defenders  have tracked runners - with terrific coordination, communication and cohesion. Again credit to the defensive  mastercoach, Arnie. 

* Arnie applied the selection  masterstroke. Atkinson has been our best attacking RB. If Karacic is a bit more solid defensively, Degenek is another notch up again. Milos played RB at the beginning of his career. Apart from his major blip that resulted in UAE knocking  out of the Asian Cup 2019, he has been a very solid CB for the Socceroos, accumulating  considerable international experience,  even if the younger Rowles and Souttar are more talented as CBs.  

Degenek has played a lot of club minutes in the MLS this season   - apparently almost  more than any other Socceroo. He is well and truly match fit. He was a powerful physical presence and tough tackler against Denmark. They had a big physically imposing, tall team.
Degenek heads well, plus he jockeys, shows and delays well in 1v1s  against the UEFA teams -  who're overly   reliant on tall players, all over the pitch. They have  centres of gravity too high to be nimble. Spain and Portugal have been  UEFA Football nations who tend to use a few smaller, more nimble players.

* Arnie played another masterstroke - putting Wright on and playing 5 at the back in a 5-4-1 in BPO of the last stanza of the game.This included 4 big,  physically strong, rugged CBs -  Degenek, Souttar, Rowles and Wright - who negated the desperate and ugly Danish long, high ball bombardment.

* Denmark lacked composure in front of goal, despite Socceroo defenders always putting pressure  on the Danish shooter. They didn't  really get any clear shots at goal.

*  Denmark coaching staff, players and stakeholders in Denmark with considerable  football insight greatly feared the Socceroos. We drew with them in the last  World Cup.  They also feared Socceroo mental strength, unity of purpose, team spirit and will to win, and  willingness to play for the team above the individual.
     
*Plus as I said before the game, we've played twice as many WCQs in the 2022 WCQ campaign. Moreover, we've played two big sudden death games already - UAE and Peru. The Socceroos had more big game experience than Denmark. And we had beaten Tunisia, who they drew with. Furthermore, we had beaten Peru - 5th placed South American in WCQs. 

* Finally, Denmark  feared losing.  They had scoreboard  pressure on them before the  game - Socceroos 3 points to  Denmark's 1. Denmark had nothing to gain and everything to lose.
All their fans and media expected Denmark to beat Australia. Everybody  involved in football, knows Denmark are a decidedly higher quality team than Australia. They have superior players playing in big UEFA leagues  and big clubs. They suffered the ignominy of potentially  losing to a team  their media and fans don't rate. It happened.

It shows how much we have improved tactically as a football nation, the 2006 team wasnt this good tactically when Hiddink was around too but this team has displayed alot more tactical maturity than ive ever seen with any Socceroos side.

Full props to Arnie, as he mentioned before the game we need to focus on youth development if we want to become an permanent player at this level which I think we become one instead of it being a one off event.

If we can improve technically along with our improving tactical level anything is possible. 
The young players have got promise technically but they are lacking physically compared to the senior team have in spades.

Couldn't get over Leckie scoring that goal!

All of us have seen so many that he has missed that were alot easier than thane.

I've said for years he should have been converted to a Right back or Left Back, because he is incapable of scoring goals.

He proved me wrong - at last! On the biggest stage too.

Fair play to him.

With the  win over Denmark, this Socceroo team is our greatest ever!

It is easily our best in Ball Possession Opposition - exemplified in 2 successive WC clean sheets in Qatar.

If Arnie could choose any players from the GG team of 2006 to add to the Socceroos of 2006 to play Argentina, I think he would only select: 

Kewell instead of Leckie or Goodwin.

Bresciano instead of McGree.

Possibly Culina instead of Irvine.

Footnote: I've watched a lot of  Socceroo WCQs and friendlies recently in the era from 1993 - 2005/6.

Same here.

How will Degenek fare at rb against Argies? Should Arnie consider shifting Baccus to rb and utilise Devlin as the replacement 6 when required in second half? 

Me too. He's played out of his skin at these finals. One assist and one goal, and both of exceptional quality. And I suspect he's been a strong leader within the group.

Agree with all of your analysis except this. Obviously, we were porous against France but I think it was more their quality than the weakness of our system that dictated that. The slickness of the French passing and moving, plus the outrageous ability of Mbappe would have destroyed anyone that day.

That was (for me) the standout performance of the World Cup and we were simply not allowed to play. Did well to only lose 4 - 1.

 I'm not sure who they will have playing at Left Wing? Di Maria has looked potent at Right Wing for Argentina.

 Most UEFA teams IMO, have too many tall players - who can't turn really quickly and aren't really nimble - apart from Spain and Portugal. Degenek is suited to playing  against the big power wingers.

Has Baccus played RB?

Atkinson is our best attacking RB. 

Not many have openly talked about this, but in agreeing that the coaching staff got it absolutely spot on in respect of the Denmark game, surely that's a vote of confidence in what was essentially a counter-attacking game plan.

Are socceroo fans happy to accept such a description?

Agree.

I simply stood back and marvelled at the quality of France. They played magnificent football  against us. Their quality was too much. A bit like Denmark's in the first 25 mins today.

Even with 9 players rested, how could  France possibly lose to Tunisia? The  players that turned for France against Tunisia won't be getting much further game time in Qatar!

Yes.

Except Aus desperately wanted to have possession of the ball. Australia is a team who loves to be in possession.

The defensive set up was to  minimise the chance of  conceding goals early in the game. It worked - just.

 I think Aus used  a 4-4-2 flat midfield in both Ball Possession Opposition ( as usual) and in Ball Possession. I'll have a look at a replay later.

Usually in Ball Possession we play 4-2-3-1 in the back third, 4-3-3 attacking midfield triangle in  the midfield  third, then the 4-2-4 in the attacking third.

You take negativity to a whole new level my man.

We just beat one of the more fancied teams in world football. 
A team many pundits had down as dark horses.

We won 2 games in a row with clean sheets and good goals from open play.
We have achieved more than any team has in our history.

These "Socceroo fans" you speak of...are you one of them?

I assume you are Italian. do you not appreciate the perfect 1-0 win in a high pressure game?
Coz that's what they both were.

Well worth watching overseas panel discussing our win...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qnsr8VkMq58&ab_channel=HouseofChampions%3AADailyCBSSoccerPodcast

This was awesome

For many socceroo fans its too early to have that conversation.  Right now its about the result. It will come though.

I saw a zoomed out version of the penalty and Dollberg has just flopped. The ref blew the whistle way too quickly.

I still can't see how the France goal was offside. They've lodged a protest apparently. 

jesus christ

We had 28% possession Danes had 60% with remainder in dispute.  Does that fit with that objective?

Mate you're reckon its not ok to ever ask that question given our development programs focus?