Bert van Marwijk slammed following Tim Cahill no-show against Denmark

Bert van Marwijk’s decision to not bring on veteran Socceroo Tim Cahill has raised eyebrows following Australia’s 1-1 draw against Denmark at the FIFA World Cup.

Despite falling behind early to a Christian Eriksen goal, the Socceroos bossed the second half and came closest of the two sides to snatching a last-gasp win.

However, as Australia pressed late, the nation’s all-time leading goalscorer was nowhere to be seen as van Marwijk opted for the young trio of Daniel Arzani, Tomi Juric and Jackson Irvine over the 38-year-old.

Former Socceroos striker Craig Foster was left bemused by the decision to leave Cahill on the bench following the frustrating draw.

“I’m not sure why [Cahill] wouldn’t have come on,” Foster said.

“I mean 15 minutes prior to that, there were three crosses into the box and one particular I think it might’ve been Leckie had a header and you’re saying ‘well Timmy would have really eaten those up’.

“You’ve got the greatest goalscorer in Australian history sitting on the bench.”

Cahill, who is aiming to score at a record fourth consecutive FIFA World Cup, did not see the pitch in the Socceroos World Cup opener against France, but Foster said that acceptable, given the state of the match.

“In fact you’re saying as a Dane geez if Cahill comes on here I think we’re in a bit of trouble,” he said.

“That’s where for the coaches sometimes those decisions are not easy. I don’t know why he’s made that decision, but we were in good field position.

“I would like to see the stats on how many crosses we got in the box, we got quite a few in at that time and that’s when you want Tim.

“You were thinking wow this is his style of game.”

Despite yearning for Cahill, Foster was left impressed by 19-year-old Arzani who provided the Socceroos with a major spark after replacing Robbie Kruse.

“We all thought that he was going to come on and then the question is: could it have happened a little bit earlier? When he came on look what he did,” Foster said.

Following the game, van Marwijk’s decision to leave Cahill on the bench against the Danes was questioned heavily.

Australia currently sits third in their group with one point, and will need to defeat Peru and hope France can inflict some major damage on Denmark if they are to make it through to the Round of 16.