Desperate Danes are out
Big win and big comeback make Australia celebrate
08/07/2023 2:32 p.m
Australia’s women’s soccer team is in the quarter-finals of the World Cup. The co-hosts create euphoria with enormous effectiveness against Denmark. And that’s only increasing with the long-awaited comeback of superstar Sam Kerr.
Co-hosts Australia can continue to dream of winning the World Cup on home soil. The national football team won 2-0 (1-0) in front of 75,784 fans in the Australia Stadium on Monday in the round of 16 against Denmark. The strong Caitlin Foord (29th minute) and Hayley Raso (70th) scored the goals for head coach Tony Gustavsson’s team. In the quarter-finals, the Matildas will meet France or Morocco in Brisbane on Saturday (9:00 a.m. CEST), who will play for progress this Tuesday in Adelaide (1:00 p.m. CEST/ZDF).
The Danes, led by new Bayern player Pernille Harder, got off to a better start in the round of 16, but Australia took the lead. After a long pass from Mary Fowler, Foord completed the goal to make it 1-0. A few minutes later, the goal scorer narrowly missed her second goal. After the change of sides, the Matildas earned the lead in the long term, and not much came from Denmark. Raso’s low shot to make it 2-0 made things clear. It’s the first time Australia have won a knockout game at a World Cup in four attempts.
The substitution of superstar Sam Kerr in the 80th minute caused further applause in the stadium. The Chelsea captain was on the pitch for the first few minutes of the tournament following her injury. Kerr is Australia’s record goalscorer.
The World Cup euphoria should now continue to grow. Australia’s impressive 4-0 victory over Canada had already set a record rating. At its peak, 2.68 million viewers watched the free-to-air Channel 7 as Australia stormed into the round of 16 in last Monday’s group game. The market share was 52 percent, said the TV broadcaster, for which it was the most successful show of the year so far.