EXCLUSIVE
Few Socceroos past or present have risen to football's elite tier in the same way as Aaron Mooy.
The midfielder's ascension from St. Mirren castaway to Huddersfield Town lynchpin would allow for some pretension on the 27-year-old's behalf.
But after making his FIFA World Cup™ debut against France on Saturday, the Sydney local is his usual humble and collected self - and is remaining grounded for the Socceroos next challenge against Denmark.
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"I’m just trying to enjoy the World Cup – it’s my first World Cup and might be my last world cup so I just want to enjoy where I am and try my best," Mooy told socceroos.com.au.
“It’s pretty crazy to be honest, I’m enjoying every minute of it and just keep trying to get better and improve and keep pushing myself and see where that takes me.
“You feel so proud to be where you are and you think about all the sacrifices and all the help you’ve had over the years but as soon as the game starts you have to forget that and start focusing on the game."
Focus for Mooy is now rooted on the team's pivotal encounter with Denmark tomorrow evening.
The Danes presented a nervy performance in their opening clash against Peru, but ultimately claimed a gutsy 1-0 win hours after Australia's 2-1 defeat to France.
Despite going down to Les Bleus in Kazan, Mooy says the Socceroos performance against Didier Deschamps' side offers a solid platform on which the side can build the rest of their tournament campaign.
"Every game in the World Cup is like a final.
"I thought we had a great performance [against France] but the result obviously wasn’t what we wanted.
"But the performances was good and we can build on that and try and take it into the match against Denmark."
Age Hareide's side are led by Tottenham Hotspur playmaker Christian Eriksen, who has been involved in 13 of the sides last 19 goals.
Although Mooy admits the Socceroos will need to marshal the Danish talisman carefully, the midfielder says the principle concern heading into the game is their own performance, not Eriksen.
“He’s an excellent player, he’s had a great season and he’s probably Denmark’s most dangerous player so we have to keep a close eye on him and try and stop the supply going into him, but we have to do it all together collectively as a team.
"We have a game plan and we’ve always played that since Bert and the coaching staff have come in.
"Not a lot is changing, [we're] just trying to do our jobs better."
