Danes deliver KO punch to Bulgarians

Denmark dominated the first half but failed to find the net until just before the interval when midfielder Thomas Gravesen put a fine through ball low to Martin Joergensen on the right and he passed square in front of keeper Zdravko Zdravkov for Tomasson to tap into an unguarded net. The Danes were virtually camped in the Bulgarian half during the opening 45 minutes as Bulgaria appeared wary of conceding. Coach Plamen Markov had said on Thursday he wanted his team to show a different face. Zdravkov had to come out sharply to block a shot from Joergensen from the right after only five minutes and defender Vladimir Ivanov cleared from Ebbe Sand with the keeper out of position. The Danes created a string of chances which all went begging with Gronkjaer’s low shot to the near post from the Left the best. Zdravkov had to go down sharply to save it.

Gronkjaer, who joined the squad after missing Monday’s 0-0 draw with Italy following his mother’s death, came on in the 23rd minute in place of Dennis Rommedahl, who limped off after a knock.