Limited Socceroos side may sink without trace

FOR the fifth ttime in succession Australia are at the World Cup, butb their qualification didn’t come without its dramad as they pipped Peru on penalties in the playoff final.fi

Australia trailed homee Saudi Arabia and Japan iin the third round of Asian qualifying before edgingg past the United Arab Emirates 2-1 to set up a winner-takes-all clash withw the Peruvians.

The Socceroos were thhe highest scorers in their final qualifying group buut won only four of their ten assignments with draws in Oman and China showinng their vulnerability.

The ccompetition is far stiffer in Qatar r, and Australia have plenty tto prove having been dumped d out in the groupstage att each of their last three World CCups.

Denm mark and France are familiar r group foes having been drrawn together four years aggo too, but the Aussies were ooutclassed in Russia, finish hing bottom of the sect tion with one point. T There is a distinct lack of f European pedigree in A Australia’s squad with th he majority plying their tr rade in the English C Championship, the Sc cottish Premiership or the AAustralian A-League. Star mman Ajdin Hrustic, who won thee Europa League with

Eintracht Frankfurt last season before a switch to Serie A side Hellas Verona, is an exception but he has been sidelined since October and has featured just five times this season.

Aaron Mooy, now with Celtic, and former Hull and Hibernian man Jackson Irvine could therefore be tasked with dictating things in midfield while Kylian Mbappe has made a fool out of defences much better than one likely to feature Sunderland’s Bailey Wright, Hearts’ Kye Rowles or Harry Souttar of Stoke.

There is little to write home about up front, either, and beating Tunisia to third is probably Australia’s best chance of any success.

DLHjulmand replaced Age Hareide just in time for Euro 2020 and had an immediate impact as the Danes dazzled en route to the last four. He adopts an expansive approach which can overwhelm weaker opposition with its hightempo.

• A strong spine gives star man

Eriksen licence to roam • Extremely cohesive unit that

few other nations can match • Majority of squad play in one of

Europe’s elite leagues

• Lack an out-and-out goalscorer • Right-back has long been an area of concern with Maehle often deployed on the left • Could be overeliant on Eriksen

to unpick defences