Doha: The Socceroos have shown their street smarts once again as footage emerged of the moment that Denmark inadvertently gave Graham Arnold’s men an insight into their tactical plans during Australia’s historic World Cup win.
Images captured by the world feed broadcast of Australia’s 1-0 win show how what appeared to be a handwritten note containing tactical instructions ended up in the hands of Arnold and his coaching staff, harking back to Andrew Redmayne’s ruthless treatment of Peru’s penalty shootout plans in June.
Danish substitute Robert Skov, who came on for winger Andreas Skov Olsen in the 69th minute of the clash, brought the piece of paper with him onto the field at Al Janoub Stadium and passed it to skipper Christian Eriksen.
The note is said to have contained Denmark’s plans to switch to a formation featuring two strikers up front, which the Socceroos had already gleaned as Andreas Cornelius — a target man-style striker who plays with Maty Ryan at FC Copenhagen — had come on at the same time as Skov as a replacement for Joakim Maehle.
Denmark were trailing 1-0 at the time and needed to win the match to progress, with Eriksen discarding the paper only for Australian striker Mitchell Duke to pick it up and hand it to the bench, who were seen reviewing it minutes later.
The Socceroos then made their own changes, injecting big-bodied defender Bailey Wright into the fray while taking off midfielder Riley McGree, as Arnold switched to a back five that was able to see out the result.
Bailey Wright came on for the Socceroos after the note was received.Credit:Getty
Team sources have downplayed the significance of the discovery, and said that Arnold was already prepared for Denmark’s tactical change, which was essentially telegraphed by the nature of their substitutions.
But Duke’s initiative shows how the Socceroos are attempting to use every possible advantage they can to advance in Qatar, and elicits memories of how a similar act of quick-thinking from Redmayne five months earlier, in another part of Doha, helped get them to the World Cup.
During the decisive penalty shootout at the Ahmed bin Ali Stadium — where Australia will meet Argentina on Sunday morning (AEDT) — Redmayne had spotted that his Peruvian counterpart Pedro Gallese had notes regarding the Socceroos’ penalty-takers taped onto his water bottle.
He then tossed it over the advertising hoardings, robbing Gallese of any insight Peru’s research might have given him in the shootout. He went on to guess the correct direction of only one of Australia’s remaining four spot kicks, and failed to save it anyway.
“If we had notes on our drink bottle and someone saw that, it would have been thrown a long way away,” Redmayne said at the time. “I knew how much it meant to the boys and it was a ‘kill or be killed’ moment.”
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