Duke strike ends 12-year barren run for Socceroos
DOHA: Wolf whistles pierced the pleasant winter afternoon as Australia stepped out for their warm-up routine ahead of Saturday’s 1-0 win against Tunisia. This is the Arab region’s first World Cup and with no guarantee of another in the near or distant future, they are here in droves. Among them in a tomato red Tunisia shirt outside Al Janoub Stadium was Mohammed.
He is from Baghdad, a twohour flight away, said Mohammed who gave only one name. In English halting but clear, Mohammed said he got here on November 20 and would be here till November 30. “So far, I have watched six games among them France-australia, Inglaterra-usa and will watch Espana and Germany tomorrow,” he said. There are many from Iraq in Doha now. “Football, you know,” said Mohammed, the smile and a hand on heart conveying what language failed.
With Luis Enrique’s former assistant at Spain Jesus Casas having taken charge earlier this month and given that players from Iraq are trying out clubs in “Europa”, not necessarily top clubs but “living and learning there”, Mohammed said he was hopeful of Iraq returning to the World Cup in 2026.
For now Mohammed said he was supporting “all teams from the area including Iran”. After Qatar were eliminated, Qataris have been quoted as saying in local media as saying they would now back teams from the region.
All this made Mitchell Duke’s strike as incongruous as fireworks preceding afternoon games. The contest was physical, even and often bruising. Australia played out from inside their penalty area to the midfield where a Duke backheel found Riley Mcgree near the circle. Mcgree passed to Craig Goodwin on the left and by the time Goodwin sent a delivery, Duke had fetched up in the area. Goodwin’s ball took a deflection off a Tunisian player but there was nothing lucky about the flicked back header that arced beyond Aymen Dahmen’s goal.
Duke is 31 and plays for a team in J2 League. In nine years since his debut for Australia, the central attacker has made only 21 appearances. To score a goal that got the sliver of Socceroos fans bouncing and in Australia’s first win in the finals since 2010 — and their third overall — is the kind of storyline only a World Cup can provide. The heroics of one journeyman, keeper Andrew Redmayne, kept Australia among the top 32 teams. Duke’s winner has kept them breathing and ready for Denmark.