Danish Delight

It is great to be wrong, and I was wrong about the end result in group B, where I had thought the two final matches between Belgium and Finland, and Russia and Denmark, respectively, would end 0-0.

For a long time the Belgians appeared unable to open the Finnish lock that would have put the Nordics through in their first tournament ever. In the end it is a pity for Finland, but they lacked the luck when their goalkeeper Lukas Hradecky pushed a rebound into goal. And when the great Romelu Lukaku made it 2-0 for the Belgians there was little the Finns could do.

The Belgians win the group with three victories, and although they have not been spectacular, they confirm that they can go all the way.

At the same time in Copenhagen Denmark started a bit nervously against Russia, who had a big chance to go ahead. But after the young Mikkel Damsgaard scored a spectacular goal to put Denmark ahead, the Danes were in control. Russia was forced forward and this gave the Danes the space they had lacked in the first half, but it was only a gift from a Russia defender, who passed the ball to an unmarked Youssuff Poulsen in fron of goal, that Denmark scored for 2-0. Despite Andrem Dzyuba scoring on a penalty for the Russians, Denmark were in control, and great goals by Andreas Christensen and Joakim Maehle put the Danes in the unlikely second spot in the group.

Finally the Danes improved their scoring statistics, which had been dreadful after the first two matches, but most of all, the victory was an emotional tribute to Christian Eriksen, who is doing well and must have been as delighted as every Danish fan about the result.

Denmark will face Wales in the last-16, and while they have to play up to their best, Denmark surely has a chance to make it to the quarterfinals.

Disappointed Denmark

It was with big expectations that Denmark went into the European Championships, but after two defeats Denmark is almost out of the tournament.

It is a pity, as Denmark have been extremely unlucky, even beyond the horrible thing that happened to Eriksen in the match against Finland. Denmark was the better side but lost 0-1 in Finland's only attack, and today Denmark was also unlucky, but against the best team in the world, Belgium.

Denmark were by far the better team in the first half, but was only ahead by one goal after Yussuf Poulsen's early strike. Kevin De Bruyne came on in the second half for Belgium, and the Belgians managed to put pressure on a Danish side that was nevertheless still fighting with spirit. But this was not enough against the quality of the Belgians when the speed of Romelu Lukaku and the genious of De Bruyne combined to serve the ball for Thorgan Hazzard and an equalizer.

1-1 was a good result in a match that already before the tournament was expected to be difficult, but given Denmark's many attacks it felt like a disappointment, and when Kevin De Bruyne scored what would become the winner for Belgium, it surely became a disappointment. Denmark continued attacking, but to no avail.

The Danes can be proud of the quality and spirit they put into the match, but in the end what wins matches are goals, and unfortunately the Danes are very inefficient in front of goal (something that was also the case against Finland). To have any chance of progressing Denmark must defeat Russia (and given how poor they are at scoring, this would not appear likely) and at the same time hope that Belgium defeats Finland in a match where Belgium has nothing to play for,  while Finland has everything to play for, as a tie will likely put them through. 

My tip for both matches is 0-0, which would result in Belgium and Russia going through on first and second spot, while Finland will go through as 3rd, and Denmark will be out.

The unimportance of football

 Just like all Danish and Finnish fans I had been looking forward to Denmark-Finland. For both teams it was a special match: a Danish team full of expectations playing at home in the European Championships, and Finland making their debut in an international tournament.

Finland won 0-1 in what was probably their only attempt on goal in the match, and while that in itself is a historical result, the match will be remembered for Christian Eriksen's terrifying experience when he went down in the 42nd minute of the match. There appeared to be some confusion, but it was soon clear that it was serious, and when we saw medics giving CPR to Eriksen while shocked players stood around in tears, it became emotionally difficult to watch (I personally stopped watching).

Everyone feared the worse and the match was suspended. There will probably be debate about whether it was the correct thing to do, but an hour later the match continued, and despite Danish pressure Finland managed to get their extraordinary victory against some clearly drained Danish players. 

Amid the sad circumstances of the match the mutual solidarity between fans and players was extraordinary, and even when Joel Pohjanopalo scored he refused to celebrate in respect. An hour later, Romelu Lukaku (who plays with Eriksen at Inter) dedicated his first goal against Russia to the Dane.

Football transcending rivalry is beautiful.

It is reported that Christian Eriksen is in stable condition in the hospital. As a sports-man he will probably be disappointed that Denmark lost, but I think that everyone considers his recovery to be much more important than any football result. So we all wish him and his family all the best, and congratulate the Finns for their unlikely victory.

Insignificant surprises in Europe

In Europe's World Cup qualifying group I the world champions of Spain took an important step by winning 0-2 against Finland, at the same time as France only managed to tie 0-0 in Georgia. France now has four points up to Spain, who will have to mess up their last home matches against Belorussia and Georgia not to qualify.
But France's 0-0 was far from the only surprise in the European qualifiers. Estonia managed a 2-2 against the Netherlands, who were in fact lucky with a late penalty to give them the tie. However, it matters little to the Dutch, who are six points ahead of Romania in group D, and will surely make it to Brazil.
In group B Italy is almost certain to go to Brazil with a 1-0 victory against Bulgaria. In the meantime, there are now four pursuers to the second spot, where Armenia are the big surprise. After defeating Denmark 0-4, the Armenians showed that they mean it seriously by defeating the Czechs 1-2 in Prague. Bulgaria has 10 points, while Armenia, the Czech Republic and Denmark all have nine points, and will be struggling for the play-off second spot. That said, all four teams are so mediocre that it would seem impossible for them all to win a play-off match against any team in Europe.
In group E Switzerland had an opportunity to take an important step to Brazil at home against Iceland. Switzerland were 4-1 up, but the usually so solid Swiss defense did not hold, and the match ended 4-4. Switzerland are still on first spot, four points ahead of Norway, with eleven points, and closely followed by Albania, Iceland and Slovenia. However, I must say that this is another of the mediocre groups that would be likely not to win a play-off (unless they draw one of the group B sides!).
Sweden managed an important 1-2 away victory to Ireland, and are now second behind Germany by five points. Germany defeated Austria 3-0, with one goal by Miroslav Klose, who with his 68th goal for Germany equaled Gerd Muller as the most scoring player on the German national team ever. Germany will be going to the World Cup, and Miroslav Klose is bound to break the legendary Muller's record.

European World Cup qualifiers

After a great round of World Cup qualifiers, the teams that will be going to Brazil next year begins to take form.
Two things are great about Denmark's great 3-0 away victory against the Czech Republic: firstly, Denmark returns as a contender for a spot in the 2014 World Cup. With a victory against Bulgaria next week, it will all look good again. Secondly, it happened without Nicklas Bendtner, who is suspended after another drunken incident, and clearly is not needed any longer on a renewed Danish team. Italy is leading the group.
Spain is still the world's greatest team, but their world cup defense has not started well, and they are starting to suffer from their lack of goals with enormous possession. After tying France at home, Spain tied Finland 1-1 at home, and they are forced to get a good result in Paris next week against France. I still cannot see how in the world Spain would not qualify.
In Group A Belgium and Croatia will be fighting for the first two spots after 2-0 victories over Macedona and Serbia respectively.
Montenegro got another away victory to Moldova to take a perhaps surprising first spot in group H ahead of England, Ukraine and Poland. But England won a historic 8-0 victory against San Marino, and can take first spot if they win against Montenegro next week.
Germany won 3-0 over Kazakhstan and is cruising its way to Brazil. The same is the case of the Netherlands who took its fifth victory in five games defeating Estonia 3-0 in group D, where Hungary and Romania are fighting for second and third spot ahead of Turkey, who is barely hanging on.

EURO 2008 Qualified Teams

Most of the countries had been settled before the last match-day of the EURO 2008 qualifiers, with only a few remaining doubts.

In spite of strong support, the Northern Irish missed their small chance for qualifying after losing to Spain 0-1 in the Canary Islands and thus not repeating their legendary 1982 World Cup victory against the Spaniards. With Sweden winning as well, the Scandinavians will accompany the Spaniards, leaving the happy Irish to look forward to another chance.

Finland had a tiny chance to qualify for the first time ever, if they could defeat Portugal away. However, in spite of an apparently close match, Finland failed to qualify, with Portugal taking their spot by playing 0-0. They will follow Poland, who again qualify for a major tournament (bringing memories back to their splendid teams in the 1970s and 1980s), even one they will be hosting in 2012!

The big surprise is undoubtedly England, who having everything in their hands, threw it away by losing 2-3 to Croatia on Wembley. This left it all for the Russians, who with a meager 0-1 win over Andorra, qualified to leave the English out.

The final list of participants is as follows:

• Switzerland: Host
• Austria: Host
• Italy: The defending world champions who won their group ahead of France.
• France: Mighty France had some difficulties, but will be a team to watch
• Czech Republic: Won their group splendidly ahead of the Germans and will be a team to reckon with.
• Germany: Never to be underestimated
• Poland: Their first ever EURO tournament! And not their last…
• Portugal: Has some splendid players, but looked shaky in the qualifiers.
• Spain: Always strong, but unlikely to win…
• Sweden: A welcome team, always strong
• Greece: the defending champs from 2004 won their group and will be interesting to watch defend the title.
• Turkey: A strong team but not bound to be popular in Switzerland after a memorable world cup qualifier in Istambul…
• Croatia: cruised to win their group ahead of England and is surely a team to watch with some great players. A dark horse for the title…?
• Russia: A welcome return to the Russians, who are otherwise not looking that strong but under a marvelous coach may do wonders.
• Romania: won their group, and is a welcome return after some former amazing teams. Apparently a young team which will be interesting to watch.
• Netherlands: A strong team as always.

In spite of England’s exit, it is a list most interesting for its lack of surprises. All big teams, old and new are in, some of the former ones will be interesting to watch, but I predict that we will have some very interesting matches.

Let us see at the draw in December!