Australia manager Graham Arnold believes his team, which battled past Denmark 1-0 and into the World Cup last 16 on Wednesday, has a case to be considered the new "golden generation" of Australian soccer, as fans back home demanded a national holiday as the country celebrated the Socceroos' unlikely spot in the World Cup knockout round.
Arnold's squad is only the second Australian team to progress from the group stage of the World Cup after the 2006 edition — a side made up almost entirely of household names from top European clubs.
The 2022 team has far less pedigree but has matched its predecessors' achievement in getting to the knockout stages, and surpassed them by winning two matches at a World Cup.