On Monday night, Stadium Australia will host a party – with a capacity crowd of almost 80,000 invited. The stage is set for the Matildas to continue their remarkable World Cup turnaround in the round of 16, in what would be only their second ever victory in the tournament’s knockout phase.
It could be quite the celebration. But Danish coach Lars Søndergaard has other ideas. He wants to crash the party and make it his own. Asked on Sunday at a pre-match press conference if it was his job to spoil the fun, Søndergaard was unapologetic. ‘It is, yes,” he said. “We’re going to have our own party, if we succeed in ruining the party – and that party is fine for me.”
