Well that was bloody fantastic!

Togetherness; resilience; a little bit of a quality and some pretty good selection and strategy have seen Australia make the last 16 of the World Cup for the first time since our Golden Generation drew with Croatia in Germany.

Viduka, Kewell, Cahill and co went out in heart-breaking fashion against eventual winners Italy but have since been regarded as a team of champions – our best ever.

What then does that say about this morning’s achievement with none of those golden names? And what if they defy both the odds and the gods to go even further?

The first (and most obvious) thing to say about our team is that it is better than we thought. Much better.

Not only that, there are players emerging who will be big stars over the next two World Cup campaigns – players probably destined for bigger clubs and leagues than where they feature currently.

Chief among these are our incredible centre back pairing of Harry Souttar and Kye Rowles – both of whom are just back from months on the sideline. They looked like they’d never met in the France game but Arnie stuck with them and both produced performances of great magnitude against Tunisia and Denmark. Their respective values will have skyrocketed.

Riley McGree has improved in every game and must now be one of the first picked. His ball for Leckie’s goal was a peach. Keanu Baccus has also looked more assured with every minute and is now growing into the player many said he would be. He will be kept honest by Cam Devlin who’ll be nipping at his heels (the way he usually does on the pitch).

There are (of course) other players in the pipeline (Cummings, Kuol, Tilio et al) but it’s the older guard doing the business right now. Aaron Mooy has been immense. Duke, Ryan and the rest have been very solid. The player who has most amazed me though is Mat Leckie.

To my mind he’s been peripheral at best throughout the qualifying campaign although he has been in great form for Melbourne City. He’s continued that form on the biggest of stages and scored, arguably, the greatest ever Australian goal at the World Cup. Tim Cahill’s screamer against the Netherlands is the benchmark, but that was one moment of brilliance. Leckie ran onto McGree’s pass but still needed another seven touches – twisting and turning away from two defenders before sliding the ball beyond Schmeichel and just inside the far post. If Messi had done that, the whole world would be proclaiming his genius.

The biggest plaudit, however, has to go to Graham Arnold.

I’m one of the many who doubted him but mainly when he was sticking too loyally to players who were clearly past it. He has since remedied that and refreshed the squad somewhat. And what a squad he’s built!

We don’t quite have the individual skills that players from more celebrated leagues have, but what we do have is a bond – a collective spirit that seems only to get stronger the tougher the test. Arnie has built this bond, picked the right players and used them to the best of their abilities. They want to play for him also.

He has also developed a plan that suits our measure and which the players understand and are capable of applying. Our defensive structure was so impressive this morning – unrelenting harrying by Duke and others with two sliding banks of four. Most importantly, they all maintained their focus and didn’t lose shape during long periods of Danish pressure. That’s where the lesser sides always fall down.

Once we scored, the Danish wheels started to fall off. Balls started to miss their men, and we had opportunities to grab a second. Then Arnie pulled a masterstroke by sacrificing the (excellent) McGree, introducing Bailey Wright and switching to three at the back. It worked.

As the minutes ticked away I couldn’t believe the Danes playing without patience – launching long ball after long ball that played right into the hands of Souttar and Rowles who are outstanding in the air. Mind you, I wasn’t complaining.

The full time whistle was one of the sweetest sounds in Australian football history and sets the stage for another epic encounter against Argentina.

They will be confident but will not take us lightly. After all, they were recently beaten by the Saudis and will know that we are (now) a much tougher assignment.

But what does it take to qualify a second Golden Generation?

Equalling the results of the first? Surpassing the results of the first?

I believe we are at the brink of a really strong period in Australian football. We’re still alive in the World Cup; we must be shortening as one of the favourites for the Asian Cup, and just from that perspective, Arnie has to stay in place to maintain momentum.

For the coach is just a tad golden right now.

Adrian's books can be purchased at any good bookstore or through ebook alchemy. His first sci-fi novel (Asparagus Grass) will be published by Hague Publishing in early 2023.