Australia’s coach Graham Arnold will not confuse his players with fresh tactics or overly focusing on Denmark.
The Socceroos will advance to the knockout stage of a World Cup for just the second time in history if they defeat the Danes in Qatar on Wednesday (2am AEDT Thursday).
And despite the highest of stakes, Arnold will not tinker with tactics against Denmark, who, like Australia, will advance from the group if they win – providing France defeat or draw with Tunisia in a match kicking off at the same time.
“If we spend a day or two just focusing on Denmark, then we’re doing the wrong thing in my opinion,” Arnold told reporters.
“It’s more about getting ourselves ready mentally and tactically, giving the right messages to the players – that is having that belief in what we do, lifting the energy.
“We can’t control what they (Denmark) do, we can help control, but we can’t control everything.
“We respect them. But it’s all about us, getting our game plan right and making sure we make it very hard for the Danes.”
Arnold said altering tactics or his line-up was fraught with danger, though right-back Nathaniel Atkinson has been cleared to return.
Atkinson was torched by French marvel Kylian Mbappe in Australia’s 4-1 loss in their tournament opener and ruled out of the Socceroos’ 1-0 win against Tunisia with an ankle injury.
“The more you change too much, the more confusion you put in the brain,” Arnold said.
“And when people are confused, what do they do? The energy goes away and you make mistakes.
“We have been doing something for four-and-a-half years. The players know exactly what to do and what my expectations are.
“I don’t think by changing the wheel in one day is going to do anything tactically great.
“But what it will be doing is putting confusion in players’ brains and once you do that, then you’re not going to get the best out of them.”
Arnold started Australia’s campaign in Doha by banning the ‘F’ word – France – instead referring to them as ‘blue’, the colour of their shirts.
Now, he has barred another ‘F’ word: fatigue.
“Fatigue … we don’t talk about it,” he said.
“It’s a special occasion. It’s not every day of your life you can play in a World Cup game.”
A draw with the Danes will also be enough for Australia to progress if hot favourites France defeat Tunisia but Arnold shunned the thought of playing for a stalemate.
“I have never coached to draw in my life,” he said.
“It’s about going out and being on the front foot like we were for 30 minutes against France and for 60 minutes against Tunisia.
“That is the message I have been driving to the boys … the improvement.
“And 30 minutes against France was great, so 30 per cent to 60 per cent against Tunisia.
“Now it’s time for 90 per cent or 100 per cent against Denmark and making sure we remove any sloppy mistakes.”
Australia vs Denmark at a glance
Thursday 1 December, 2am AEDT.
Al Janoub Stadium, Doha, Qatar
World rankings: Australia 38, Denmark 10
Highest ever ranking: Australia 14 (2009), Denmark 3 (1997)
Lowest ever ranking: Australia 102 (2014), Denmark 51 (2017)
Head-to-head: Played 4. Australia 1 win 1 draw 2 losses
Past meetings:
6/2/07: Denmark 3-1 (friendly, London, England)
1/6/10: Australia 1-0 (friendly, Johannesburg, South Africa )
2/6/12: Denmark 2-0 (friendly, Copenhagen, Denmark)
26/6/18: 1-1 draw (World Cup group stage, Samara, Russia)
