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Mitchell Duke scored the winning goal with a header in the 23rd minute
Photo:
Noushad Thekkayil/EPA
After beating France 4-1, Australia won its second appearance at the World Cup in Qatar.
In a duel with the Tunisians, the Australians would have been kicked out if they lost, instead they managed to score 1-0 (1-0).
The winning goal was scored by striker Mitchell Duke (23rd minute).
With three points, Australia is now in second place in Group D. In the early evening, leaders France will play Denmark (5 p.m., TV: ARD).
It was an unsightly game with many technical errors.
Both teams started uncertainly and often freed themselves from pressure situations with long shots.
Most of the action took place in midfield, and there was hardly any structure due to the many free balls.
Tunisia had the first good attack in the 19th minute, but there was no conclusion.
The 1-0 win for Australia, on the other hand, was worth seeing.
Just past the halfway line, Duke smacked a long ball from Australia goalkeeper Mathew Ryan directly to Riley McGree, who immediately switched to Craig Goodwin on the left wing.
His cross was slightly deflected by Freiburg-born German-Tunisian Mohamed Dräger before Duke sent the ball flying into the far corner with a challenging header in the penalty area (23').
Tunisia missed the chances to equalize
After falling behind, it was the Tunisians who came into play better.
Dräger had a great chance after a well-played counterattack, but his shot from close range was blocked by Australian central defender Harry Souttar (41').
Shortly thereafter, the Tunisian captain Youssef Msakni narrowly missed (45 + 3).
The second half was very similar to the first - with the difference that there were fewer good chances to score.
Mathew Leckie could have scored the decisive goal in the 71st minute, but missed a sharp cross in the penalty area.
Msakni got two shots in a row for Tunisia, but each time it was too central (72').
Aaron Mooy's long-range shot a little later was enough to make it 2-0 for Australia (73').
mrk