Before the tournament, van Marwijk warned how his squad were too willing to follow his exact instructions instead of improvising on the fly.

But in the Danish game, van Marwijk says the side was undone when the attackers tried to think for themselves…but ended up making a series of silly errors.

Asensio's Screamer Vs FC Barcelona
Asensio's Screamer Vs FC Barcelona
In one of Real Madrid's most outstanding performances at the Camp Nou, Los Blancos beat FC Barcelona 3-1 in the Spanish Supercup. Real were leading 2-1 after Cristiano Ronaldo's 80th minute goal, but just before the final whistle, we sealed the win with this beautiful Marco Asensio strike.
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“In the game against Denmark, our striker – and also the second striker and our number 10 – sometimes they pressed in the wrong moment,” he said.

“They did it on their own, then the rest of the team cannot come close to them. 

“There was too much space between the lines and it was too difficult to control midfield plays for the game. 

“So that is a moment you can explain they do some things themselves… only you have to do the right things yourselves.”

Tomorrow’s clash with Peru could be van Marwijk’s last in charge of the Socceroos before Graham Arnold takes the reins after the World Cup.

He says he is hopeful of taking the team further into the tournament and believes the squad has the potential to be even better…but that will soon be up to Arnold and the future was unpredictable after a management change.

“It’s difficult for me (to say) because I hope and I think that we will stay here in Kazan,” he said. “I think we are still growing.

"That’s for the people who take over from me…so I don't think about those things. A team performs better when the level of the players is improving. It’s a combination. 

“On the other side I have also had teams that, when there is a new situation, they can go down. That's not up to me, and I cannot predict that.”

The Roos need to beat Peru and for France to beat Denmark tomorrow if Australia have any chance of making the last 16 for only the second time in history.

But van Marwijk shrugged off the stress and said he welcomed it.

“I don't really feel the pressure,” he said. “I know it is there, and everybody knows it's there, but the team is very relaxed. 

"But you need pressure, I need pressure – when I don't feel pressure, I am not in the best condition. I think every human being needs pressure to perform, but you must have control over the pressure. 

“You must not go too far. That’s exactly the same for a team. They need pressure, they know it’s good, it’s part of the deal, part of top sport.”