EURO 2012 Focus - Denmark
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As the EURO 2012 approaches, Extratime.ie will take an indepth look into each participating team. Alan Finn looks at the EURO 2012 Group B side Denmark.
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Where they are staying, where they are playing
Three interesting facts about the team
Morten Olsen has confirmed the 23 players he will take to UEFA EURO 2012.
Goalkeepers: Kasper Schmeichel (Leicester City), Stephan Andersen (Evian), Anders Lindegaard (Manchester United).
Defenders: Simon Kjaer (Roma), Daniel Agger (Liverpool), Simon Poulsen (AZ Alkmaar), Lars Jacobsen (Copenhagen), Andreas Bjelland (Nordsjaelland), Jores Okore (Nordsjaelland), Daniel Wass (Evian).
Midfielders: Christian Poulsen (Evian), William Kvist (Stuttgart), Christian Eriksen (Ajax), Lasse Schone (NEC), Michael Silberbauer (Young Boys), Jakob Poulsen (Midtjylland), Thomas Kahlenberg (Evian), Niki Zimling (Club Brugge).
Forwards: Michael Krohn-Dehli (Brondby), Dennis Rommedahl (Brondby), Nicklas Bendtner (Sunderland), Nicklas Pedersen (Groningen), Tobias Mikkelsen (Nordsjaelland).
Denmark secured their place in the European Championships this summer after impressively finishing top of a group which also contained Portugal and fellow Scandinavian nation Norway.
With a record of six wins, one draw, just one loss and six goals conceded in the qualifying campaign, Morten Olsen will have every reason to feel encouraged about his side's chances of having a successful tournament, but the Danish rearguard will have to be on top form in Poland and Ukraine after being drawn in the 'Group of Death' with Germany, Netherlands and Portugal once again.
Christian Eriksen will very much be the man to watch out for in the Denmark squad this summer. Eriksen has been in fine form for Ajax since joining them in 2010 and the top clubs in Europe including Manchester United, Barcelona, Chelsea and AC Milan are all attempting to land the 20-year-old. An impressive run in this tournament could well see his value boost and his name pop up frequently in the 2012 Summer transfer window.
The centre-back pairing of Daniel Agger and Simon Kjaer may also be ones to watch out for. Daniel Agger continues to struggle with injuries, but his performances for Liverpool this season have been regularly solid this season. Things have not gone as well for Kjaer however who has struggled on loan at Roma this season as well as in some of the Euro 2012 Qualifiers for his nation, but the 23-year-old will see this tournament as an ideal platform to rediscover his fantastic form from his time at Midtjylland and Palermo.
Where they are playing, where they are staying
Denmark will play all three of their games in Ukraine. The first of which will be in the Metalist Stadium in Kharkiv against Netherlands on the 9th June at 7pm. Their other two games take place in Arena Lviv against Portugal on 13th June at 7pm and Germany on 17th June at 9.45pm.
If they were to make it to the Quarter-Finals as winners they would face the runners up of Group A in the PGE Arena in Gdansk. Alternatively, they could face the Winners of Group A as runners up in Group B at the National Stadium in Warsaw.
If they were to make the Semi-Finals they would play in the National Stadium in Warsaw and the Final will be played in the Olympic Stadium in Kiev. Although their games are all in Ukraine, Denmark will be staying in the Marine Hotel in Kolobrzeg, a city in the north-west of Poland.
Three interesting facts about the team
- Denmark have previously won the European Championships. They beat Germany 2-0 in the Final of Euro 92 which was held in Sweden. Denmark had actually failed to qualify for the tournament, but they took the place of Yugoslavia who were banned from the competition due to their involvement in the war in the Balkans.
- Denmark's biggest ever victory came on 22 October, 1908 in London when they beat France 17-1. This game was played just three days after playing their first ever official game, which was a 9-0 victory over a France 'B' side which was also played in London.
- The Danish FA have imposed a ban on all forms of social media which their players may have access to during Euro 2012 such as Twitter and Facebook in an effort to ensure they are fully focused during the tournament.
Denmark have won four of their last five games, three of which were friendlies against Russia (2-0 Loss), Finland (2-1 Win) and Sweden (2-0 Win).
The two previous games before those friendlies were qualifiers against Portugal and Cyprus. They beat the Cypriots convincingly with a 4-1 victory with Lars Jacobsen, Dennis Rommedahl with a brace and Michael Krohn-Delhi all scoring.
Krohn-Dehli was on the score sheet again against Portugal, with on loan Sunderland striker Nicklas Bendtner getting the other. The last time the Danes failed to score in a competitive game was their opening group game against Netherlands at the 2010 FIFA World Cup where they lost 2-0.
About Alan Finn
Alan Finn is a Sligo based reporter who joined the Extratime crew in 2012. If there is a match on in The Showgrounds, it is likely you will find him there. View Full Profile