Denmark
Factsheet:
Euro 2012 Group B: 09-06-12: Netherlands - Denmark, 13-06-12: Denmark - Portugal, 17-06-12:
Denmark - Germany
FIFA/Coca Cola World Ranking: 11
Previous European Championship Appearances: 1964, 1984, 1988, 1992, 1996, 2000, 2004
Qualifying record: 8+6=1-1 15-6
Interesting facts: Denmark received a ticket to their golden European Championship in
1992 only 10 days before its kick-off, due to international sanctions against
Yugoslavia.
Denmark is the least populated country to ever win the
European Championship.
Christian Eriksen was the youngest player in the
previous World Cup in South Africa.
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Comparisons with 1992 achievements are unavoidable every time Denmark earns the right to participate in a big tournament. Euro 2012 is not an exception. Can the Danish Dynamite explode again?
The Danish Football Association (DBU) was so satisfied with the qualifying results that they hurried to persuade Morten Olsen to wait a couple of years before he would retire.
The experienced Dane has been in charge of his
national team since 2000. He has not been the most successful manager, but he managed
to earn next round tickets for his team outperforming rivals like France in World
Cup 2002 and Italy in Euro 2004. They only need to add Germany or Netherlands
to this list, as we’ve seen them advance Portugal twice during last 4 years.
As always, it is going to be lots of fun to enjoy the presence of Roligans, Danish peaceful fan-troop as opposed to Hooligans.
Statistics against Netherlands: 30+8=10-12 42-59*
The match we remember: The 22nd of June
20 years ago is yet another day when Netherlands, hot favorites to win the
trophy, left a major competition earlier than expected. This time it was
Denmark, sudden guests at the tournament, to stop them. The match ended 2-2 and
the Danish legend Peter Schmeichel saved the after-match penalty from the Dutch
legend Marco Van Basten, thus sending the Netherlands home after
semi-finals.
Statistics against Portugal: 13+3=2-8 16-27
The match we remember: The last two times in
Copenhagen were must-win visits for Portugal, where they did not pass the test
and were ought to try their luck in play-offs. However, the most thrilling
match took place in Lisboa in 2008, where yet another boring match was about to
finish with a score of 1-0, when suddenly the teams went wild five minutes
before the final whistle. At first it got 1-1, a minute later 2-1, four minutes
later 2-2 and deep inside the injury time 2-3, with Daniel Jensen leaving
Portugal in shock.
Statistics against (West) Germany: 27+8=4-15 36-53
The match we remember: Ask any Dane, the match
between those two teams in the Swedish capital back in 1992 has been the most
important one in Denmark’s football history. The fairy tale ended as it was
meant to. Denmark won 2-0 against probably the best team in the world, which the Germans
proved two years later. Absolutely amazing tournament with even more amazing
final!
Two profiles:
Nicklas Bendtner: The Arsenal-man
has already 46 caps in his international career. Taking into consideration his age,
Bendtner is 24, there are all of the national achievements to be improved. But
not everything is that easy with him. If not Manchester City’s Mario Balotelli,
Bendtner would surely be the most scandalous player in Premier League. Danish
tabloids keep on renewing top 10 of Bendtner’s most stupid deeds’ lists several
times per season. His driving licence is one of the most discussed ones in England.
Recently he knocked a man down when celebrating a team victory in Denmark. As
it usually happens, those types of talented players are more quiet on the
pitch, although they are able to decide the outcome of any match. He had a
pretty successful period of time with the Danish team since the qualification
to Euro started in 2010. He promised to keep on scoring in every game. Let’s
see whether Bendtner will focus his efforts on the pitch or in night clubs of
Ukraine this summer. In the second case his claims of being the best striker in
the world will need further examinations.
Christian Eriksen: Judging from Dutch
Talent 2011 and Danish Player of 2011 awards Eriksen is the most gifted under-21
in Euro 2012. He is the one hunted by all major players in the European
transfer market, so he has the chance to increase his market value by several millions.
Eriksen’s vision and shooting abilities mean a lot for current Ajax and Danish
tactics. Johan Cruyff is one of the admirers of Eriksen’s talent. Local experts
are sure, that Eriksen is the long-awaited successor of Michael Laudrup. These
claims became even more trustworthy after a fantastic performance against
England in the beginning of 2011. There is no doubt about Eriksen’s technical abilities.
Now it’s time to follow to his ability to cope with the attention he will face
in Ukraine.
My prediction:
It is trendy for Dutch and German scouts to look for
talents in Denmark. Youngsters like Simon Kjær (23), Andreas Bjelland (22) and
Nicolai Boilesen (20) have already been hot topics in recent transfer
speculations. William Kvist and Niki Zimling constantly show solid performances
for their teams. No need to talk about former Juventus-man Christian Poulsen
and Ajax-star Dennis Rommedahl, who still are vital for their national team. So
it is not strange for The Olsen Gang to show great qualifying campaigns, leaving
Portugal behind two times in a row.
The experience might become the factor for the Danes
to let them down during the Euro. Morten Olsen’s tactics is built on strong
defense. However, what was a strong defense in qualifying matches might become
an inexperienced one in the final round. Goalkeepers Sørensen and Lindegaard
are not as reliable as Peter Schmeichel ‘92. All of the regular defenders make
silly mistakes for their clubs from time to time and are not irreplaceable. For
captain Daniel Agger this is only the second major tournament. Adding the
untried Eriksen and unstable Bendtner to this negative list, it is obvious to
me that the only team the Red and Whites can compete with in their group are
the Portuguese. I believe only 5-6 participants of Euro 2012 have an obviously
stronger squad than Denmark and unfortunately for them Netherlands and Germany
are two of them. Unlucky!
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* 6+2=3-1 7-7: played 6, won 2, tied 3, lost 1,
scored 7, conceded 7
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