
Never, ever leave your cheat sheet available to your enemy
Reading Time: 2min | Sat. 03.12.22. | 19:12
The Danes' coach sent hand-written instructions to their players in the do-or-die tie against Australia, but the Socceroos got a hold of it and used it to win
This World Cup has brought us plenty of action, drama and unexpected outcomes. However, a unique moment happened during the decisive Denmark-Australia tie in the ultimate round of the group stage.
Both teams were with chances to go through, and Australia were 1-0 up after Matthew Leckie's perfect solo run.
That one-goal deficit forced the Danes' coach to react promptly, so he reached for substitutes Skov and Kornelius. The latter was also given a hand-written note, like a cheat sheet, to give to the team's captain Christian Eriksen. The Manchester United midfielder read it, and handed it to his teammate and Tottenham Hotspur player Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg. But then the plot of this whole story reaches its pinnacle.
Just went back to watch the game and can verify this. Only access to game is crappy SBS on Demand replay (Couldn't get rid of progress bar either), but I think I've tracked how the Danish note ended up in Australia's hands.
— Luke Vacca (@luke01_v) December 2, 2022
1. Skov comes onto the pitch holding a note pic.twitter.com/W5vCDwGPFl
As available footage shows, Hojberg throws it on the ground, and Australian player Mitch Duke casually picks it up. He hands it to Socceroos manager Graham Arnold, who instantly tells Bailey Wright to start warming up. The player came in soon enough, and Australia's formation became much more defensive-oriented.
The moment the Aussies found - and used - Denmark tactical note pic.twitter.com/pAeuHsVeuL
— Ray Power (@power_ray) December 2, 2022
And the epilogue? Denmark lost 1-0 and were eliminated from the championship.
The moral of the story - never, ever leave your cheat sheets on the ground.













