Strong defence, draw in Denmark’s favour

It is a section from which the 1992 European champions would hope to reach the second round, though their Swedish coach Bo Johansson warns against any complacency.

“We must not believe Saudi Arabia are a pushover,” he said, “All three are very technical teams, they like to build their game through the mid-field.”

The Denmark boss has clear ideas about who can win the most popular sporting event in the world. “Brazil and Germany are the favourites,”he said, identifying hosts France, Spain, England, the Netherlands and Italy as outsiders.

Mid-fielder Allan Nielsen remains confident his side can finish at least second in their group and qualify for the second round.

“We won’t underestimate the opposition but wehave a strong belief that we can put on a good display,” he said.“We feel we are good enough to reach the quarter-finals.”

That may be less straightforward, however, with jinx side Spain, tipped to top group d, their likely opponents in the second round.

If that clash does come about, the Scandinavians will not be lacking motivation against the country that has stopped their progress so often in recent years.

Spain knocked Denmark out of the 1984 European Championship and the 1986 World Cup before beating them again in the group stages of the 1988 European Championships. They then beat Denmark 1-0 in the decisive qualifier to prevent them reaching the 1994 World Cup in the United States, a major blow following their Euro 92 triumph.

Critics say that Denmark have only three players of true world class – goalkeeper Peter Schmeichel of Manchester United and attacking mid-field brother Brian and Michael Laudrup of Glasgow Rangers and Ajax Amsterdam respectively.

None of the three is getting anyyounger and there has been precious little sign of any new young stars coming through the ranks, particularly in attack.

Other forward options like Peter Moeller of PSV Eindhoven and Mikkel Beck of Middlesbrough and Miklos Molnar of Sevilla are simply not in the Laudrup class.

Yet Johansson rejects suggestions that while his side is strong in defence, they lack goal-scoring prowess. “We can score from corners, throw-ins, long balls, short one-touch combinations and on rapid counter-attacks,” he argues.

Michael Laudrup is the only member of the squad to have played in a World Cup tournament – in Mexico in 1986 – the only previous time the Danes have reached the finals.

Johansson has done well since taking over as national coach in the autumn of 1996 after Denmark’s disappointing performance in Euro 96 in England when they failed to make it to the knockout stages winning only one of their three games.

Determined to make the team more aggressive, he has introduced young blood in the form of attackingmid-fielder Jon Dahl Tomasson, now with Newcastle in the English premier league and defender Soeren Colding of Danish team Brondby.

Other young hopefuls have been hit by injury and Johansson’s 22-man squad for France is expected to include only three uncapped players – defender Thomas Graversen of Hamburg SV, Martin Joergensen of Italian side Udinese and striker Ebbe Sand of Brondby.

In their qualifying group, Denmark coped relatively comfortably though left themselves with a nervous finale.

They beat Slovenia 2-0 in their opening qualifier in September 1996 and went on to defeat Greece 2-0 at home in a match memorable for a brilliant Brian Laudrup goal.

The 29-year-old jinxed past four opponents on a solo run from the halfway line before slamming the ball into the net.

The Chelsea-bound Rangers star also played a key role in Denmark’s 1-1 draw in split in March 1997 against arch-rivals Croatia, who had hammered the Danes at Euro 96 finals in England 3-0. A gusting wind diverted Laudrup’s cross intothe top corner of the net just eight minutes before time to salvage a vital point for Denmark.

A shock 3-0 loss in Bosnia threatened to derail the Danes momentarily before Brian and Michael Laudrup scored a goal apiece as they defeated Croatia 3-1.That left them needing to avoid defeat in front of 70,000 screaming Greeks to clinch their place in France and Schmeichel, with two stunning saves, ensured they did so.

Those two games showed that as long as their star trio are in the side, Denmark have the qualities to surprise anybody this summer.