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A to Z of WORLD CUP SOUTH AFRICA 2010 - Denmark
DENMARK:
2010 will be Denmark’s fourth time in the World Cup Finals. They are relative newcomers to this football jamboree, making their first appearance in 1986. This was the era of Michael Laudrup and Manchester United’s Jesper Olsen. They won their group in fairly spectacular style, including a 6-1 walloping of Uruguay. Unfortunately in Round 2 they themselves were on the receiving end of a 5-1 thrashing at the hands of Spain. A further 12 years were to pass until France 1998 when Denmark had their best ever World Cup, beating Nigeria 4-1 in Round 2 and going out 3-2 to eventual finalists Brazil in the quarter finals. The bulk of this saw the Danes qualify for the 2002 World Cup and a handsome victory over reigning Champions France. Progress in Round 2 was halted courtesy of a 3-0 defeat by England. Having failed to qualify for the 2006 tournament in Germany, Denmark topped their Group for the 2010 qualification. Their opponents include neighbours Sweden and a less than impressive Portugal whom they beat 3-2 away in Lisbon.
The national team’s managers are usually drawn form the ranks of Danish or Swedish coaches. The current incumbent is Morten Olsen, one of the longest serving managers in the business. Olsen, a former player, took up the managerial reins in July 2002 and by October 2009 had completed 100 matches as national coach. The match incidentally was a 1-0 victory over arch rivals Sweden and secured the Danes’ place at the 2010 Finals. The bedrock of the side is solidity in defence - Denmark conceded only 5 goals in 10 qualifying matches. Thomas Sorenson, currently of Stoke City, will bring plenty of Premiership experience to the Tournament, though his 85 caps is still some way short of Peter Schmeichel’s record-breaking 129! Defensive midfielder Christian Poulsen of Juventus will bring some added steel to the play, provided he stays on the park long enough. Captain of the side is Jon Dahl Tomasson, a name that will have a distantly familiar ring to it for residents of Tyneside, where he turned out for the Magpies in 1997. Lack of physique and other factors saw him score only 3 goals in 23 appearances. Now back at Feyenoord for the second time he is, with 51 goals in 105 matches, his country’s second highest scorer. Bet365 are offering odds of 150/1 on his being the Tournament’s top scorer this summer. However there is every expectation that Arsenal’s Nicklas Bendtner will add to his 10 international goal tally when things kick off in June.
With a FIFA ranking of 26 Denmark have been drawn in Group E together with Holland, Cameroon and Japan. On the three previous occasions when the Danes have made it through to the Finals, they have always made it to the last 16. Stan James has them at 9/2 to win Group E whilst William Hill are offering 6/5 on their making it out of the group. Mindful of their Finals record mentioned earlier, Boylesport’s odds of 2/1 for a last-16 elimination are not over-generous. A quarter-final elimination can be had at 13/2 with Totesport. Their opening match on June 14th sees them come up against Group favourites Holland, a match that could well decide the Group and indeed opponents in the last 16. The “Roligans”, Denmark’s well known and well liked supporters, may well have plenty to be cheerful about come 2.15 pm on that day!
Posted: Friday, January 29th, 2010 @ 00:01 am by Mark
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