Denmark’s earlier triumph as rank outsiders within the 1992 European Championships means they can’t be underestimated by England in Group C.
Within the final event, the Danes reached the semi-finals the place they have been eradicated by Gareth Southgate’s Three Lions, earlier than Kasper Hjulmand’s swashbuckling facet breezed via qualifying for the 2022 Qatar World Cup.
Issues have been harder since, nonetheless.
They crashed out on the group stage in Qatar after failing to fireside and, though they topped Euro 2024 qualifying Group H, they did so solely on purpose distinction forward of Slovenia.
What can we count on from Denmark this time round? Strong and unsightly is how they’ve been described whereas Hjulmand confirmed throughout the qualifying marketing campaign a tactical flexibility having modified formation on quite a few events.
The Danes have an excellent likelihood of escaping their group, however they don’t seem to be anticipated to duplicate the feat of three years in the past. Mikkel Damsgaard, who scored a superb free-kick within the semi-final defeat by England, has seen his profession stall at Brentford on these shores.
Christian Eriksen’s powers additionally seem like on the wane whereas it was a shock to Celtic supporters to study that Matt O’Riley hadn’t been included within the squad regardless of scoring 19 objectives and offering 18 assists this season.
On O’Riley’s omission, head coach Hjulmand stated: “I have chosen six other midfielders but it was tight. Damsgaard and Andreas Christensen can also cover positions in the midfield. It has gone beyond Matt, but it was a difficult choice. I know he will play a lot of international matches.”
Pressed on what O’Riley may have finished in another way for Celtic to earn a spot, he responded: “He couldn’t have done anything differently. He could hardly do better than what he did this season.”
Wieghorst: Denmark should discover solution to accommodate Eriksen
“We had a difficult 2023 in the qualifying campaign – finally, in the end, we qualified, which is the main thing, but we struggled in certain games,” Denmark assistant coach Morten Wieghorst stated.
The previous Denmark midfielder stated his facet went into qualifying figuring out they’d get pleasure from an enormous quantity of possession, however, as in Qatar, they typically struggled to interrupt down groups.
That, nonetheless, is unlikely to occur in Germany, the place they tackle England, Serbia and Slovenia in Group C, none of whom are more likely to simply sit again towards the Danes.
“The term ‘easier’ I wouldn’t use but the games are going to be different,” Wieghorst stated wryly.
There have been the highs of profitable Euro 1992 to the second which transcended the game within the final event when midfielder Eriksen suffered a cardiac arrest.
Regardless of Eriksen’s coronary heart problem, and him not being as fleet-footed as he as soon as was, the 32-year-old remains to be anticipated to play a key function for a group wherein he has been the dominant inventive power for greater than a decade.
“He can find that space and time to exploit the defences of the opponents, so that’s his major strength. And then in terms of pressing, we have to accommodate a player of his stature,” Wieghorst defined.
One other main power for the group would be the estimated 50,000 Danes anticipated to attend the video games over the border in Germany, an asset Wieghorst doesn’t underestimate.
“We want to make it exciting, we want to give them something to shout about, and to have a great party and a great time in Germany,” he stated.
How did Denmark carry out in qualifying?
Denmark topped their qualifying group with 22 factors, the primary time they’d topped a European qualifier group for the reason that 2012 version. The Danes received all 5 house video games on this qualifying marketing campaign however misplaced two of their 5 away from house (W2 D1).
Expertise may very well be key in Germany. Croatia’s squad have essentially the most caps within the event, 1,169, with Luka Modric (175) one in all 4 centurions. Portugal are 39 behind with Switzerland and Denmark the opposite groups above 1,000. England’s 651 is the seventh-lowest whole with Scotland ninth-lowest on 744.
Surprisingly, Denmark – together with Albania – are the one groups with no domestic-based participant of their respective squads.
England have a tournament-high 24 home-based gamers, with Madrid star Bellingham and Bayern striker Kane the one exceptions, whereas Italy have 23 – Jorginho and Guglielmo Vicario play in England with Gianluigi Donnarumma at PSG.
How have Denmark’s warm-up video games gone?
Denmark wrapped up their Euro 2024 preparations with a 3-1 win over Norway at Brondby Stadium that noticed Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg rating for the third worldwide sport in a row, with Erling Haaland grabbing a comfort purpose for the guests.
Midfielder Hojbjerg acquired Saturday’s proceedings underway with a Twelfth-minute strike from his highly effective proper foot, and the Danes added a second when defender Jannick Vestergaard headed house Andreas Skov Olsen’s nook 9 minutes later.
With Denmark making a slew of second-half adjustments, Haaland had a purpose chalked off after a VAR overview within the sixty fifth minute however there was no stopping him seven minutes later when an excellent Martin Odegaard move teed him as much as cut back the deficit. Youssef Poulsen netted a 3rd in second-half stoppage time.
It capped a profitable week of warm-up matches after Eriksen scored a surprising late winner in a 2-1 victory over Sweden at a sold-out Parken stadium 4 days earlier.
It cemented his spot because the Danes’ most potent inventive power forward of the event in Germany, the place they’ll face Slovenia, England and Serbia in Group C, with the Slovenians up first in Stuttgart on June 16.
Can Hojlund hang-out England?
Rasmus Hojlund might be motivated greater than most to wrestle high spot off England after a slightly detached first season within the Premier League as a part of a dysfunctional Manchester United facet.
The 21-year-old scored 10 league objectives in 30 appearances following his £72m transfer from Atalanta – three greater than he scored in qualifying for the Euros – and at worldwide stage, he has hardly ever let his nation down.
His hat-trick towards Finland in March made him the youngest (20 years and 47 days) hat-trick scorer for Denmark in a Euro qualifier since a 19-year-old Michael Laudrup in 1983 towards Luxembourg.
Talking forward of the event, supervisor Hjulmand stated on Hojlund: “I played with Rasmus’ father and have known and seen Rasmus since he was very young. I’ve watched many of his matches as a youth player and know where he comes from. His great quality is his personality.
“He’s a type of younger gamers who appears round each single day and thinks: ‘What can I study? How can I enhance?’ He has such an open mindset that revolves round: ‘I need to be higher.’ That is what shapes Rasmus. He always needs to turn out to be higher, and he needs to be advised that as nicely.
“He wants to be challenged, and thrives on getting better. When he didn’t make it to the World Cup, for example, which I thought was just too early, I went down to him in Bergen and showed him some clips regarding running and heading the ball in those situations.
“After which instantly, one winter day, I used to be advised that he was coaching arduous. After which I noticed, for instance, that match towards Finland the place he scored three objectives. He strikes extremely nicely and it is not by likelihood that Rasmus takes steps ahead as a result of it is his mindset, it is his character.
“It’s about leveraging the things that are around him for the better. That personality can take him a long way. We’re already very pleased with him but there’s more to come.”
Who may emerge as a family identify?
Denmark have produced greater than their fair proportion of goalscoring wingers with the flexibility to captivate followers and the most recent is Skov Olsen, who is about to step out of the shadow of gamers such because the Laudrup brothers.
After breaking via at FC Nordsjaelland and spending three seasons with Bologna, the 24-year-old from Hilleroed has rediscovered his greatest scoring type this previous season at Membership Brugge in Belgium, with 26 objectives in all competitions.
Skov Olsen’s breakout scoring season in Belgium comes at an intriguing time for Hjulmand’s facet and should nicely immediate a positional shake-up from the Denmark supervisor in Germany.
Beforehand playmaker Eriksen occupied the house on the best of midfield that Skov Olsen prefers however the latter’s tempo, shut management and deadly left foot make him an enormous menace as he cuts in from the wing.
As an added bonus, Skov Olsen can also be greater than succesful along with his proper foot as proven by some deft chipped finishes in his membership profession.
To really prosper in Germany, Skov Olsen might want to present that he’s in a position to rating towards high-level opposition – he netted solely thrice in 70 video games for Bologna and his final worldwide purpose got here in September 2022 towards France.
Like a lot of Denmark’s high gamers, calls for might be positioned on Skov Olsen’s intelligence and tactical flexibility as his facet search to navigate their manner out of a troublesome group.
If he stays away from harm, Skov Olsen might be the most recent in a protracted line of Danish attackers to excite the group’s fanatical supporters.
By the best way, maintain an eye fixed out additionally for holding midfielder Morten Hjulmand. There is no relation with head coach Kasper, in case you have been questioning.
The 24-year-old arrives off the again of a stellar season with Sporting as a part of Ruben Amorim’s Portuguese league title-winning group.
Hjulmand solely made his Denmark debut in September, so is a little bit of a late bloomer on the worldwide stage.
Full Denmark squad
Goalkeepers: Kasper Schmeichel (Anderlecht), Frederik Ronnow (Union Berlin), Mads Hermansen (Leicester Metropolis).
Defenders: Andreas Christensen (Barcelona), Simon Kjaer (AC Milan), Joachim Andersen (Crystal Palace), Jannik Vestergaard (Leicester Metropolis), Victor Nelsson (Galatasaray), Alexander Bah (Benfica), Joakim Maehle (Wolfsburg), Rasmus Kristensen (Roma), Victor Kristiansen (Bologna).
Midfielders: Christian Eriksen (Manchester United), Thomas Delaney (Anderlecht), Morten Hjulmand (Sporting Lisbon), Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg (Tottenham), Christian Norgaard (Brentford), Mathias Jensen (Brentford), Mikkel Damsgaard (Brentford).
Forwards: Jacob Bruun Larsen (Burnley), Andreas Skov Olsen (Membership Brugge), Anders Dreyer (Anderlecht), Kasper Dolberg (Anderlecht), Rasmus Hojlund (Manchester United), Jonas Wind (Wolfsburg), Yussuf Poulsen (RB Leipzig).