Denmark may just be imitating the 1992 miracle
Euro 2020 could not have started in a worse way for Denmark. Apart from football, the talisman Christian Eriksen’s collapse on the pitch in their initial match against Finland shocked the entire football world.
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Predictably, the rest of that match did not go Denmark’s way, eventually falling to a 1-0 defeat, and despite going up 1-0 within two minutes, their matchday two match with Belgium resulted in a 2-1 loss.
No team had ever passed the group stage after losing their first two group games.
But Denmark’s inspired 4-1 abuse of Russia in their last match sent them to the last 16 as Group B runners-up. A fighting, exciting and beautiful show was the tribute to Eriksen that everyone had wanted to see.
They were really driven by that achievement in their 16-year-old with Wales. Kasper Hjulmand proved that he was tactical, Denmark’s squad further exemplified their spirit and quality and Euro 2020 spectators mixed a little in their chairs to take them into account when they beat the Dragons 4-0.
The performance appealed to the question: can the Danes really make this saga happen?
Well, they really have a history of football wonders. Denmark’s Euro 1992 campaign is one of the ultimate football stories. When you qualify for the tournament solely through Yugoslavia’s UN forced absence, you can safely assume that the nation was simply happy to be there.
And with the start of a well-deserved 0-0 draw with a very imaginative England, the spirit was high. A 1-0 defeat against the hosts for Sweden on match day two dampened the mood somewhat, but match day three’s crunch collision with a French side that included Eric Cantona, Jean-Pierre Papin, Didier Deschamps and Laurent Blanc (among others) resulted in a surprising 2-1 victory, seals their passage to the last four of the tournament.
Denmark’s John Jensen tracks France’s Jean-Philippe Durand / Shaun Botterill / Getty Images
As we know, underdogs are there to disturb the favorites. A star-studded Dutch side tasted defeat against Denmark after a penalty shootout – with Marco Van Basten, of all people, missing the decisive spot-kick – meaning Denmark, who would never be there, had made the final.
John Jensen’s first international goal opened the scoring in the first half, before Kim Vilfort’s late strike sealed a 2-0 victory over a German squad built by a born winner. A strong and collective Denmark, whose backbone consisted of such as Peter Schmeichel, John Sivebaek, Lars Olsen, Brian Laudrup and Henrik Larsen, had defied the odds and lifted the European Championship trophy in 1992.
Almost 30 years later, it is still a very long way off – and probably even more unlikely. The favorites in this summer’s tournament boast troops filled with outrageous quality, but after what happened on match day one, Denmark has shown that very few have as much gravel, determination and spirit as them.
Kasper Schmeichel celebrates after advancing to the quarterfinals of Euro 2020 / Peter Dejong – Pool / Getty Images
Their tactically skilled coach proved his worth against Wales when his players dominated and blew away their opposition and under the leadership of Euro-1992-winning goalkeeper son Kasper Schmeichel, the Danes look as inspired and hungry as anyone who has a cry to find glory this summer . With two generations of the same family in goal for both teams, there is an undeniably fantastic story to write as well; the stars could adapt to something special.
It is extremely unlikely, but can Denmark really make this football saga happen? Well, it’s football; everything can happen.