Australia's Souttar stands tall to repel the Danes

AL WAKRAH, Qatar: Australia may lack the attacking pedigree of their last side to reach the World Cup knockouts, but in Scottish-born centre back Harry Souttar they boast a one-man colossus in defence.

Graham Arnold's side defied the odds to book their spot in the last 16 in Qatar with a 1-0 win over Denmark on Wednesday that wrapped up the runners-up spot in Group D and sent them through to the next round for the first time since 2006.

Yet this was not a victory built on the attacking talents at Arnold's disposal.

While it was certainly not a smash and grab, it was a day for Australia's dogged rearguard to stand tall, which they did from the first whistle, with Souttar, born in Aberdeen to an Australian mother and Scottish father, a none-shall-pass general at the back.

Souttar is a hulk of a centre back whose performances at the World Cup have been a throwback to the days when defenders had nicknames like Psycho, Chopper and Razor, and he was once again immovable as Australia soaked up everything Denmark could chuck at them.

At 6-feet-6 inches tall (1.98 metres), Souttar, who plays in England's second tier with Stoke City, was a physically imposing presence and threw himself into tackles and blocks with a relish that modern centre backs sometimes lack.

When the ball went into the box as Denmark tried to work their way back into the match after Mathew Leckie's excellent goal in the 60th minute, it was invariably Souttar's head that connected with it.

In the 87th minute, he slid along the turf to pull off a superb tackle on Kasper Dolberg while four times in stoppage time the ball was thrown into the Australia penalty area only for Souttar to put his head in the way of danger.

The 24-year-old's all-action heroics at the World