Australia braced for tournament-defining meeting with Denmark

• Lack of attacking threat a concern for Van Marwijk
  
• ‘We know what we have to do to stay in the competition’

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.

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