Euro 2012: Profiling Team Denmark

In two weeksai??i?? time Euro 2012 will kick off in Poland and Ukraine which will mark the return of Denmark back into the prestigious European Championship after an absence of eight years, having last played in the 2004 edition which was hosted by Portugal. Even though the Danish Dynamite showed a lot of vigor in the qualifying round,they go into the competition with the tag ofai???the underdogs especially after being placed in Group B a.k.a ai???the group of deathai??? alongside Germany, Netherlands and Portugal.

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Denmark’s Road to Euro 2012

Denmarkai??i??s campaign for Euro 2012 kicked off way back in September of 2010 when the qualifying rounds of the UEFA Euro 2012 began. The Red and Whites were placed in a tough group consisting of Portugal, Norway, Iceland and Cyprus with the group winner getting a direct pass to the finals while the runner up would have advanced to the play-offs.

In their first group encounter the Danes were the firm favourites as they took on lowly ranked Iceland at home but they almost made a meal of an easy encounter and had to depend on Thomas Kahlenbergai??i??s extra time strike to pick up a win much to the relief of the crowd and their manager Morten Olsen. A month later they met the mighty Portugal in Porto where they were completely outplayed by the home side giving them their first defeat of the campaign.

Denmark were slowly but surely digging their own graves and need a revival of sorts to get their Euro dream back on track and thatai??i??s exactly what they did. Three days later, they took on Cyprus in the last qualifying round match of 2010 at home and picked up a comfortable victory which gave them some much needed self-belief.

The Danes lost to England in a friendly in 2011 before they travelled to Norway for their next qualifying round encounter. Rommedahl put the visitors in the lead just before half time but Huseklepp restored parity for the Norwegians ten minutes from time to end the match 1-1. Denmark then picked up two back to back victories which tied them with Portugal on first position with only one match remaining against the Portuguese. A draw was sufficient for the Portuguese while Denmark needed a win to top the group and qualify directly as Portugal enjoyed a better goal difference over the Danes and had won their previous encounter as well. Playing in front of a jam packed home crowd, Olsenai??i??s men took the lead much to the shock of everyone in attendance in the first fifteen minutes and later doubled the lead through Bendtner in the second half.Ai?? Cristiano Ronaldo scored a consolation goal for the visitors in the last minute of extra time but the scoreline of 2-1 in favour of Denmark enabled them to qualify directly for the Euro 2012 sending the entire nation into a delirium.

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Squad and Tactics

Morten Olsen took over the reins of the Danish team in July 2000 and since then he has become the longest serving coach of their national team also known as ai???The Olsen Gangai??i?? because of Olsenai??i??s long stint with the side. Ai??Olsen who has earned 102 caps for his country in a career which spanned two decades has managed Denmarkai??i??s team for 125 matches. He is expected to field in his tried and tested 4-3-3 formation which has produced favorable results for his side over the last few years. The last half of the 2011 has been fruitful for the Danes as they won five back to back matches which included wins against Portugal (Euro qualifiers) and Sweden. But quite similar to last year, this time too Denmark lost their first international friendly to Russia who are placed in Group A of the European Championship.

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Can the "Olsen Gang" spring up a surprise?

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The Olsen Gang is supposed to play two international friendlies against Brazil and Australia before they move to their base location Kolobrzeg in Poland. Both these matches will provide an excellent platform for Morten Olsen to try all his permutations and combinations from his final squad of 23 considering the injury to Christian Poulsen who might take some time to regain his fitness.

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Goalkeepers:Ai??Thomas SA?rensen (Stoke City), Stephan Andersen (Ai??vian), Anders Lindegaard (Manchester United).Ai??

Stoke Cityai??i??s keeper SA?rensen is most likely to start for the Red and Whites between the sticks. He will have to give in the performance of a lifetime in the Euro 2012 in order to prevent some of the most attacking players of the world from scoring. Lindegaard who has recovered from his ankle injury which has kept him out of action since January, was also named in the final squad for the Denmark side by manager Morten Olsen.

Defenders:Ai??Lars Jacobsen (FC KA?benhavn), Daniel Wass (Ai??vian), Daniel Agger[C] (Liverpool), Simon KjAi??r (AS Roma), Andreas Bjelland (FC NordsjAi??lland), Simon Poulsen (AZ Alkmaar), Jores Okore (NordsjAi??lland).

All three of their opponents are known for their attacking style of play especially the likes of Netherlands and Germany. Also the presence of ever lurking Cristiano Ronaldo who had his best season with Real Madrid in 2011-12 will ensure that the Danish defenders will always have to be on their toes. Skipper Daniel Agger will be the most influential player for Denmark on the pitch playing at the heart of their defense. Simon Poulsen and Jacobsen are supposed to be the starting fullbacks and are expected to play a crucial role in assisting their midfield and front line from their long range crosses. Simon KjAi??r is expected to form a partnership with captain Agger but considering his horrendous season with Roma, Olsen might be forced to bench him. But a clearer picture can only be formed after Denmarkai??i??s friendlies are over against Brazil and Australia. Okoreai??i??s inclusion on the 24^th of May completed the 23 man squad of Denmark for the Euro 2012.

Midfielders:Ai??Christian Poulsen (Ai??vian), Jakob Poulsen (FC Midtjylland), William Kvist (FC NA?rnberg), NikiZimling (Club Brugge), Thomas Kahlenberg(Ai??vian), Christian Eriksen (Ajax), Michael Silberbauer (BSC Young Boys), LasseSchA?ne (NEC Nijmegen).

Christian Eriksen has been on the radar of some of the biggest European clubs for quite some time now and Euro 2012 is an ideal platform for the Ajax midfielder to show his worth to the rest of world on why exactly he is being considered as the next big thing.Ai?? Injury to their veteran midfielder Christian Poulsen who had an amazing season with Ai??vian might force Olsen to tinker with the bench of the Danes. His club mate Kahlenberg has also played a vital role in Denmarkai??i??s qualification for the Euros and one can expect him to play a crucial role in the championship as well. Ai??Zimling and Kvist are most likely expected to start in the 3 man midfield alongside Eriksen.

Forwards:Ai??Dennis Rommedahl (BrA?ndby), Nicklas Bendtner (Arsenal), Michael Krohn-Dehli (BrA?ndby), Tobias Mikkelsen (FC NordsjAi??lland), Nicklas Pedersen (Groningen).

Although twenty four year old Nicklas Pedersen was included along with defender Okore in the Denmarkai??i??s squad, one can only expect him to start on the bench for the Danish Dynamite as Olsen wonai??i??t like to tinker with his set frontline trio of Rommedahl, Bendtner and Krohn-Dehli. At 33, Rommedahl might be playing his last elite tournament for his country and he would certainly like to reach at least the knockout stage of the competition. Bendtner scored the crucial second goal against Portugal which helped Denmark to qualify directly for the Euro 2012. Since then the Arsenal striker has scored some crucial goals against Swenden and Finland and a lot is expected from him in the tournament. Joining Rommedahl and Bendtner up ahead of the field will be Rommedahlai??i??s club mate from BrA?ndbyAi??IF Krohn-Dehli.Ai?? Both Krohn-Dehli and Rommedahl will play on either side of Bendtner in the three man attack line.

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THT’s Player To Watch Out For: Christian Eriksen

A lot is riding on the shoulders of this twenty year old who has often been compared to the great Michael Laudrup. Fortunes of Denmark will depend a a lot on the performance of this attacking midfielder from Ajax. He is known for his selfless play and for creating chances to score almost at will. Ai??He is one of the youngest players around in the Euros but he is capable of having an enormous impact on the game.

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THT’s Prediction

The draw has been rather harsh on the Danes as they are placed alongside three of the top five countries. They did defeat the Portuguese side before qualifying for the championship but facing the same Portugal side in Euro 2012 will be an altogether different ball game. Presence of 2010 World Cup finalist Netherlands and three time World Cup and three times Euro winners Germany tilts the odds against the Danish Dynamite. TheHardTackle, predicts it will be really tough for the Danes to progress to the next round of the Euro 2012 but stranger things have happened in the game of football. They can inspire themselves from looking at their own teamai??i??s history as twenty years ago it was the Red and Whites who shocked the world by defeating Germany in the finals to lift the 1992 European Championship and on the way they defeated the likes of France and Netherlands. They say lighting doesnai??i??t strike twice but it has been more than twenty years to that championship now, maybe just maybe Denmark can pull off a miracle.

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Friendlies Schedule

Saturday, May 26, 2012, v Brazil (14:30 GMT in Hamburg)

Saturday, June 2, 2012, v Australia (16:00 GMT inAi??Copenhagen)

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Euro 2012 Schedule

Group Matches:

Saturday, June 9, 2012 v NetherlandsAi??(18:00 CET in Kharkiv)

Wednesday, June 13, 2012 v PortugalAi??(18:00 CET in Lviv)

Sunday, June 17, 2012 v GermanyAi??(20:45 CET in Lviv)

Denmark’s Probable Lineup

Euro 2012 Group B : Profiling Team Denmark

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