Home News Soccer News: Tunisia 0-1 Australia: Duke breathes new life into Socceroos hopes

Soccer News: Tunisia 0-1 Australia: Duke breathes new life into Socceroos hopes

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A first-half header from Mitch Duke was enough to see through Tunisia and ignite Australia’s hopes of reaching the World Cup play-offs in a 1–0 win.

Duke converted a left cross from Craig Goodwin in the 23rd minute and the Socceroos had to endure some pressure at the end to secure the win, meaning they head into their last Group D match against Denmark with everyone to play for.

Tunisia have scored the only point in two games and will have to beat defending champions France on Wednesday and hope other results turn in their favour.

Australia shaded a hectic start but failed to capitalize on a series of crosses into the Tunisian box.

Crossing the ball from the flank was clearly a key part of the Australian strategy, and it paid dividends midway through the first half. Duke kicked off with a deft touch in midfield before darting into the box to catch a deft look at Goodwin’s deflected cross past Tunisia goalkeeper Aymen Damen.

The attacking force of Tunisia grew during the first half and could equalize twice before the break.

In the 41st minute, a powerful performance by Issam Djebali helped him select Mohamed Drager at the far post, but defender Garry Suttar ran over him to block his goal kick.

Then the indefatigable Jebali was on the right, but his low center was shot through by Captain Youssef Msakni.

The Tunisians dominated the second half, but their desperation for an equalizer nearly saw them lose again in the 71st minute as substitute Jamie McLaren ran down the left flank before landing a low cross that was an inch from a slider. Matthew Lecky.

In the end, a second goal was not needed as Australia’s determined back line, in which Souttar was outstanding, did enough to keep Tunisia out and register just the second Socceroos clean sheet in 18 World Cup matches.

What does it mean? Australia shot in the last 16

Australia are back in business to qualify, but they won’t know what they need until the third round after Denmark’s clash with France later on Saturday.

A decisive clash with the Danes is next for the Socceroos, who only made it to the bottom 16 once in 2006.

Tunisia needs snooker. A win over Les Bleus in their final match is mandatory, although it looks unlikely even if France have already qualified by the time they meet at Education City Stadium.

Superb Suttar keeps Tunisia at bay

Stoke centre-back Suttar was a colossus at the center of Australia’s defence.

The 24-year-old intervened decisively to stop Drager in the first half and then again in the second as Taha Yassin Henissi looked to capitalize on Kai Rawls’ rare miss.

The indefatigable Jebali is impressive

All of Tunisia’s most dangerous moments have come about because of the hard-working Jebali. The 30-year-old, who plays for Odense Football Club in Denmark, has been a constant source of annoyance to the Australian defender for his willingness to run channels.

Unfortunately for the North Africans, his build-up game didn’t come with clear finishes as both Drager and Msakni missed great opportunities to get on the scoresheet.

Msakni had six shots – the most in the history of a World Cup match by a Tunisian player – but it was a day of great disappointment for his team as Australia maintained their first World Cup clean sheet after a 0-0 draw against Chile in 1974 .

Opta key features:

– Australia scored the first goal in both of their games – they were only 1-0 up in two of their 16 World Cup games ahead of the 2022 tournament.
– Their clean sheet ended a streak of 14 consecutive World Cup games they conceded.
– All three of Australia’s World Cup victories were against teams from different continents (Asia, Europe, Africa), which is a joint record, along with Algeria and Iran.
– Tunisia failed to score in 53 per cent of their World Cup matches (9/17), although this is only the second time they have failed to score in their first two games in the same tournament (after 1998).
– Duke has scored five goals in his last eight starts in all competitions for Australia, with four of those goals coming from headers.

What’s next?

Australia will play Denmark and Tunisia will face defending champions France, both matches will take place on Wednesday.

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