Australia rues its lack of finish
Didier defends bore draw farce
HUNGRY FOR GLORY: Rojo netted the all-important late goal dramatically five minutes into the second half. Mascherano needlessly wrestled Nigerian defender Leon Balogun to the ground and referee Cuneyt Cakir pointed to the spot. Chelsea’s Moses sent Franco Armani the wrong way and Argentina were in danger of going home. Nerves gripped Argentina’s play as simple passes went astray, tackles were missed and possession lost. Nigeria claimed a second penalty when a looping cross flew off Rojo’s head on to his arm but, after consulting the VAR officials, Cakir ruled it was accidental. Then with time ticking away, Gabriel Mercado sent in a deep cross from the right and Rojo met it with a brilliant volley that sent the ball flying into the corner and Argentina into the last 16.
Messi said: “We were confident we would win. It’s wonderful to have won it this way. It is a well-deserved joy.”
NIGERIA (3-5-2): Booked: (4-4-2): Goal:
DIDIER DESCHAMPS made no apology after France played out the first goalless draw of the tournament to a cacophony of boos.
With Peru beating Australia in the other Group C game, and France through, the Danes knew well before the end a draw would be enough to make the last 16.
But an unimpressed 78,011 crowd made their feelings known by loudly booing and whistling – and some even left in disgust.
Deschamps, right, who made six changes, said: “We’ve reached our goal to top the group. It was not an exciting game. There was no need to take risks as this result was fine for everyone.
“The Danish manager may have defended too much because he got what he wanted, which was a draw. We tried to get a win. It was a neutral match for the last 15 minutes.”
Denmark boss Age Hareide said: “You need to do what you need to do. It’s very emotional. We progressed to the AUSTRALIA coach Bert van Marwijk admits a lack of goal threat has cost his team their World Cup dream after losing to Peru.
The Socceroos added to what has been a miserable month for Australian sport after their one-day cricket team were whitewashed 5-0 by England and the Wallabies rugby side lost a Test series to Ireland.
The result in Sochi means Van Marwijk’s side are going home early – and the Dutchman will leave his post to hand over to Sydney manager Graham Arnold.
An outstanding goal from Watford striker Andre Carrillo, above, set Peru on the way to victory in front of their 26,000 fans, who created a carnival atmosphere in the Fisht Stadium. Striker Paolo Guerrero added a second after 50 minutes.
The win could not save Peru but Australia were left with the biggest regrets. Van Marwijk said: “With last 16. We just needed one point, right? We were up against one of the best teams in the world, doing counterattacks, so we’d have been stupid to leave a lot of space, so we stayed compact.” Denmark’s Martin Braithwaite and Christian Eriksen both had penalty appeals waved away and France’s Olivier Giroud had a decent shot saved. But the match descended into a farce long before it was over as both teams gave up any pretence of trying to snatch a winner.
DENMARK (4-2-3-1): AUSTRALIA
France we were at least equal and Denmark even better, and today was the same – but we couldn’t score.” Van Marwijk claimed Peru’s first goal was offside, which takes away from the astonishing finish by Carrillo, who volleyed a chipped cross from Guerrero. Peru coach Ricardo Gareca, who said he will take stock before deciding on signing a new contract, said: “We lost two matches but did something bigger in the grand scheme of things.”
AUSTRALIA (4-4-1-1): Booked: