Australia produced one of the great moments of this World Cup as they beat Denmark 1-0 to qualify for only their second ever round of 16.
And our Man of the Match is …
Mathew Leckie (Australia)
For the first time since 2006, Australia have made it to the knockout stages of the World Cup.
The Socceroos were given almost no chance before the tournament as they were drawn in Group D alongside reigning champions France and everybody’s dark horse, Denmark.
It was a straight shoot-out this afternoon between the Aussies and the Danes for a place in the last 16 and despite struggling in the first half, Australia edged their European opponents to book their place in the latter stages.
Whatever coach Graham Arnold said to his side at half time clearly worked as Australiawere like a side reborn after the break.
That was epitomised by Mathew Leckie, who scored one of the goals of the group stage so far.
After a swift break, Leckie found himself up against Joakim Maehle in a one-on-one position.
But instead of holding up the ball and waiting for a team mate, the Melbourne City striker jinked one way and then the other to find himself inside the area.
And then, with an extraordinary coolness, the 31-year-old fired in a low shot through the defender’s legs and into the bottom corner.
It will undoubtedly go down as the most important goal in Leckie’s career and could be one of the most important in all of Australian football.
