Denmark have cruised to a 2-0 friendly win against a lacklustre Australia in Copenhagen.
Denmark have cruised to a 2-0 friendly win against a lacklustre Australia in Copenhagen on Saturday.
A first-half penalty to Denmark captain Daniel Agger gave the hosts the advantage before defender Andreas Bjelland sealed the result with 22 minutes remaining.
While the Socceroos created a handful of chances, they were poor and never really looked likely as they slumped to their fourth loss under manager Holger Osieck.
The German made four changes to the side who beat Saudi Arabia 4-2 in a World Cup qualifier in February, with Luke Wilkshire, Mile Jedinak, Matt McKay and Archie Thompson all drafted into the starting line-up.
Making way were Mark Milligan and Sasa Ognenovski, who dropped to the bench.
Regulars Josh Kennedy and Brett Holman were also absent, with the former missing due to club commitments while the latter did not travel with his wife expecting to give birth to their second child.
Denmark - who were defeated 3-1 by Brazil a week ago - burst out of the blocks as Dennis Rommedahl and Nicklas Bendtner fired early shots on goal.
The Danes were causing Australia issues, particularly down the left flank, and their high press forced the Socceroos to sit back which suited the hosts.
Luke Wilkshire was lucky to get away with a lunge on Simon Poulsen before a neat move that involved Harry Kewell, Thompson and Jedinak ended with Alex Brosque, who dragged his shot just wide.
Australia started to work their way into the match but Niki Zimling and Bendtner still had half-chances on goal before a sublime attacking move led to the opener.
Agger created the passage of play as one-touch passing from himself, Bendtner and then a clever back-heel from Eriksen had the Socceroos defence at sixes and sevens.
Agger continued his run and was brought down by Matthew Spiranovic in the penalty area, with the Liverpool defender dusting himself down before beating Schwarzer from 12 yards.
Mark Bresciano had two decent efforts from long range which tested Danish goalkeeper Stephan Andersen before half-time, but the Danes fully deserved their one-goal lead at the break.
Kewell failed to take advantage of a poor back pass, firing wide early in the second half while shortly after Brosque had Australia's best chance.
It was Kewell's angled header that played the Japan-based attacker in but he could only shoot straight at Andersen, wasting a one-on-one chance with his non-preferred right foot.
And Denmark made the Socceroos pay just eight minutes later when Bjelland poked home the rebound from a corner that was not cleared.
A horror back pass from Matthew Spiranovic nearly saw Denmark go further ahead although Bendtner shot wide when he only had Schwarzer to beat.
The match petered out in the latter stages with a raft of substitutions from both sides interrupting the flow.
Denmark deserved their victory though, leaving the Socceroos with plenty of work to do before they take on Oman in Muscat on Friday night.