On Monday night time, Stadium Australia will host a celebration – with a capability crowd of just about 80,000 invited. The stage is about for the Matildas to proceed their exceptional World Cup turnaround within the spherical of 16, in what can be solely their second ever victory within the match’s knockout section.
It could possibly be fairly the celebration. However Danish coach Lars Søndergaard has different concepts. He needs to crash the occasion and make it his personal. Requested on Sunday at a pre-match press convention if it was his job to spoil the enjoyable, Søndergaard was unapologetic. ‘It’s, sure,” he stated. “We’re going to have our personal occasion, if we reach ruining the occasion – and that occasion is ok for me.”
The European facet are taking part in of their first Girls’s World Cup since 2007. By progressing from Group D, due to victories over China and Haiti and regardless of a loss to England, the European nation has reached the knockout spherical for the primary time since 1995.
“It’s in fact an enormous match,” stated Søndergaard. “We’re trying ahead to it. I feel we’re dwelling in a dream in the intervening time and we would like that dream to proceed for a pair extra weeks. Large recreation, implausible event, many spectators – we’re trying ahead to it.”
The Danish staff, nicknamed de rød-hvide (pink and white) for his or her distinctive taking part in package in nationwide colors, will enter the encounter as underdogs towards the extra highly-fancied Matildas taking part in on dwelling soil. Australia are presently tenth in Fifa’s world rankings, whereas Denmark are thirteenth.
“As a small nation as effectively, in a approach we’re used to being underdogs once we play towards the massive nations,” stated Søndergaard. “So I consider course Australia as the house staff, with a whole lot of spectators behind them, could possibly be stated to be favourites.”
However the Danish coach was optimistic of springing an upset. “We wish to shock,” he stated. “And we additionally assume, and I feel that is a very powerful factor, that we will do it.”
Denmark and Australia have solely met as soon as earlier than within the Girls’s World Cup – when the Matildas made their match debut in 1995. The Danes received 5-0. However the two nations have additionally confronted off twice in friendlies lately, with either side securing a victory.
On Sunday afternoon, Søndergaard defined that he was cautious of studying an excessive amount of into these earlier matches. “I feel that was in several phases within the period of Tony [Gustavsson, the Matildas coach],” he stated. “He was fairly new within the first recreation we had, after which he’d had a while with the staff by the second recreation. I feel they’ve constantly developed into the taking part in model he needs them to play in.”
after e-newsletter promotion
Danish midfielder Janni Thomsen stated her squad hoped to harness the vitality of a capability crowd, even when they might be largely cheering on their opponents.
“This actually is a dream come true – a full stadium, I’ve been dreaming of that since I used to be a baby,” stated Thomsen. “All these spectators – they’re not going to be supporting us, all of them for positive, however we’ll take it. We’ll use the environment and assist it work in our route.”
The winner of Monday night time’s conflict will face France or Morocco within the quarter-final in Brisbane on Saturday afternoon.
