Gutsy Australia squeeze past Tunisia to revive World Cup hopes
DOHA, AFP, Nov 26, 2022: Australia won a World Cup game for only the third time in their history with a dogged 1-0 victory over Tunisia on Saturday to revive their last-16 hopes. Striker Mitch Duke scored the only goal of a tight game with a clever header in the first half and Australia then desperately held on to silence Tunisia's vociferous fans.
Australia sit second in Group D with three points from two games, having been well-beaten 4-1 by holders France in their tournament-opener. The Socceroos face Denmark --who play France later Saturday -- in their final group game and the knockout round is in sight.
Their best World Cup performance came in 2006 when they also reached the last 16, in the days of Tim Cahill, Harry Kewell and Mark Viduka.
Graham Arnold's Australia don't have players of that ilk but they have lots of heart and kicked off to deafening whistles in front of 42,000 at Al Janoub Stadium, where their fans were heavily outnumbered.
Each Australia touch was met with whistles from the throbbing ranks of Tunisia's bouncing, bellowing and flag-waving supporters. Australia had only ever won two matches at the World Cup before this and squeezed into this edition via a playoff.
But they started the better against a Tunisia team who held Denmark 0-0 in their opener and are looking to reach the knockout stage for the first time. The match was being shown on primetime Saturday night television in Australia and viewers saw their gritty side dominate the first 15 minutes, without mustering a shot.
Tunisia had the first sniff of goal in the 19th minute but skipper Youssef Msakni was squeezed out, then defender Mohamed Drager blazed over. In the 23rd minute Australia took the lead their possession deserved.