SYDNEY — On a winter Monday night all freighted with big hope and high promise and fine fervor and good scarves, Australia continued its charge out of that World Cup near-abyss in which it had landed 11 nights prior. It treated 75,784 fans in Stadium Australia to a delectable 2-0 win over Denmark in the round of 16, and it kept this World Cup floating on the air of some of the better sports noise available on this planet.
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The Matildas gallivant toward the quarterfinals now to play either France or Morocco on Saturday up in Brisbane, and they do so even as their star of stars, Sam Kerr, never did set boots on grass in this World Cup until the 80th minute on Monday, when her entry as a substitution caused yet another world-class roar.