I enjoy the inherent nostalgia of the Danish national soccer team. That goes with the territory of having been a kid in the eighties, when the team was at its best, and a real national pride - and of being a twelve-year-old Danish soccer fanatic when they beat Europe's (and, admittedly, my own) favorites to take a European championship in 1992.
Apart from a few games, it has all been down hill from there. No matter which internationally renowned players the team fielded, it has never had the aura of that legendary 'Danish Dynamite' team from the eighties. And given the trail blazer-like nature of that team, it probably never will.
So what's really fun about the Danish soccer team, other than watching the important games with other soccer-crazed Danes, is the endless pining for those old times. Discussions about the team's past. And what, if you think about it, goes better with the nostalgic nature of this blog?
A really interesting subject to discuss concerning our national team is what I've labeled the best of times, and the worst of times. I give you a list of the Danish soccer team's greatest victories - and one of its most heartbreaking defeats.
A few words on my selection criteria: of course a game needs to be important in order to be a euphoric or heartbreaking experience. So exceptionally good or bad performances in friendlies don't count (which means no
4-0 win over Brazil in 1989 on my list). Second, it helps when expectations are exceeded or not lived up to, respectively. That is why the team's lacklustre performance in the 2000 Euro's Group of Death (0-3, 0-3 and 0-2 vs. France, Holland and the Czechs) is also left out. The team was simply not good at the time. The first-round playoff exits at the 2002 World Cup (0-3 vs. England) and Euro '04 (0-3 vs. Czech Republic) are not included either, because Denmark was overmatched against a better opponent and never had a chance. Or the 2010 World Cup, which included a loss against the lowly Japanese team. That was an implosion, not a heartbreak, caused, at least in part, by the poor quality and motivation of some of the core players.
The entries on my lists are weighed according to significance, performance and result to give a total impression of their meaning to a Danish soccer fan. So there. Without further ado, here are the lists:
10: 3-2 over Italy in Naples. Euro 2000 qualifier. September of 1999.
Because we were behind, 0-2 on the road, against a stronger opponent. Because we fought back. Backs against the wall, a defeat here would have meant doom for the Euro 2000 qualification campaign. But then the team delivered one of the coolest, clutchest performances I've ever seen from them. Italy, it should be said, went all the way to the Euro 2000 final, where they took a lead into the 94th minute. That's how strong this opponent was.
9: 3-2 over Portugal in Lisbon. FIFA World Cup '10 qualifier, September of 2008.
Denmark again trailed most of the way, but came back at the very end to score a clutch win on the road. What's remarkable about this one is the renaissance it brought upon the team - the Danish public had given up on the national team, members of the press labeled it 'the worst Danish team of the past 30 years'. And then they went and pulled a stunt like this. It made the entire qualification campaign, and to a certain extent, our national team is still riding the momentum from this night in Lisbon.
8: 3-2 over Belgium. Last group-stage game of Euro '84, in Strasbourg.
The quality of this game has been the subject of some discussion, as it was more a physical fight than anything else, but falling behind 0-2 against a strong opponent and scoring three unanswered goals, the last of which was an instant classic from Preben Elkjær - that's world class. Doesn't rank higher because Denmark would have made the semi-finals with a draw.
7: 2-1 over France. Last group-stage game of Euro '92.
You'll notice a certain and very understandable 1992 bias on this list, and in this final group-stage game, Denmark wouldn't have made anything but vacation plans with a draw. After Papin's equalizer for France, it all looked very bleak for a long time, but then Lars Elstrup
came out of nowhere (a place to which he would later
return spectacularly) to put Denmark into the semi-finals. This game didn't keep the dream alive. It was where the dream was born.
6: 4-1 over Nigeria. Round of 16 at the 1998 FIFA World Cup, in Paris.
Nigeria was favoured to win with their strong group of technically sound players, but Denmark opened the game strong and never looked back. The third goal was one of the finest ever scored by a Danish international when Ebbe Sand took a no-look pass from Michael Laudrup under control and slid it past the goalie some fifteen seconds after he'd been subbed on. Also gains points for being the only time Denmark has ever won a knockout-stage game at the World Cup.
5: 1-0 over England. Euro '84 qualifier at Wembley Stadium, 1983.
I've watched this game plenty of times, and it's boring. Uneventful. Only one goal, and it was on a penalty (by Denmark's superstar at the time, Allan Simonsen). Other than that, the main event was a brilliant - and somewhat fluky - save by the Danish goalkeeper in stoppage time. Boring. But it was Danish soccer's international breakthrough, and at that time, a Danish team taking a Wembley game under command was exceptional. And the de facto clincher of qualification for Euro '84, which was a first for Denmark.
4: 6-1 over Uruguay. FIFA World Cup in Mexico, 1986.
Maybe the best performance ever from a Danish team. This was as
Total Football an experience as you can deliver against a ruthless and compact defense, one of the best games at a brilliant tournament, and it had both a legendary, Maradona-esque goal by a young Michael Laudrup and a hat-trick by Preben Elkjær. This was about as Dynamite-y that the
Danish Dynamite team would ever be. Then why doesn't it rank higher? It was only the clincher of a knock-out stage berth, and games higher up this list clinched more important things than that. Except...
3: 4-2 over the Soviet Union. Constitution Day, 1985 - World Cup qualifier.
A game midway through the qualification campaign, this game didn't decide anything. But it is one of the best soccer games I have ever seen, with a high-paced play all ninety minutes - and a physically strong opponent who never gave up. When you watch the final 20 minutes of the game, the Russians - down by two goals - still hang on very tough and believe in their chances to still get at least one point. Ad to it that the game took place on the Danish Constitution Day under a perfect June sky, and it is maybe the most legendary game a Danish national team has ever played. Quality-wise, this certainly is a point of reference for any Danish soccer fan.
2: 2-2 vs. The Netherlands. Won on penalty shoot-out. Euro '92 Semi-final.
Quality-wise, this game might not be, but it was an important one. And the 1992 Dutch team is perhaps the strongest opponent Denmark has ever beaten. Heck, it might be one of the strongest national teams
ever assembled! The Dutch had a good goalie (Van Breukelen), a strong defense anchored by Ronald Koeman, and the Frank Rijkaard-Ruud Gullit axis controlled the midfield and fed forwards Dennis Bergkamp and Marco van Basten. Practically all were near the height of their respective careers. But for the first 85 minutes, the Orange troops played uninspired, and Denmark took advantage, scoring on their counter attacks and taking a 2-1 lead into the 85th minute. Rijkaard equalized, and from that point, it was a bombardment of the Danish goal - but nothing went in, and in the penalty shoot-out, Van Basten, maybe the best player in the world at the time, was the only one who
missed. Denmark was in its first-ever final after a tense but hard-fought win.
1: 2-0 over Germany. Euro '92 Final in Gothenburg.
You were expecting anything else? It was Denmark's first, and so far only, title, and it was clinched in a tough, gritty performance where goalkeeper Peter Schmeichel delivered perhaps his career's best, and certainly most iconic, moments. Some luck was needed, such as the decidedly mediocre midfielder John Jensen scoring on a difficult shot, but mostly it was brilliant goalkeeping and good ballhandling that won this final for Denmark. Schmeichel's goal was under attack for most of the game from world-class strikers Klinsmann and Riedle, but this was a team of destiny, and it prevailed.
The Agony of Defeat
10: 2-3 vs. Brazil. Quarter-final at the 1998 FIFA World Cup.
A magnificent game, which started out with an early Danish lead. But in the end, though Brian Laudrup fired home an equalizer, the Danes couldn't handle Rivaldo. It was one of the best games at the '98 World Cup, and no shame to lose to an opponent this strong. So why was it heartbreaking? For two reasons: one, we had come so close to creating a true sensation and reach the final four. After Brian Laudrup's equalizer, there was a '92 kind of feeling to the game, but it was not to be. Two, this was the Laudrups' final game for the national team. An era was ending, and the transition to the next one, where the team had to cope with less-than-stellar players, would not be kind.
9: 0-3 vs. Croatia. Group-stage game at Euro '96, at Hillsborough, Sheffield.
Close to being a game where Denmark was truly overmatched, this game was tough to take because we didn't know before the game how hard it would be. But this was the
Davor Suker show - he scored two of the Croatian goals - and after this game, the Danish title defense lay in ruins. And it seemed Denmark was no longer a force to be reckoned with in international soccer. The hopelessness of this defeat in the midst of a 'we can do it again' craze was what made it tough.
8: 0-2 vs. Yugoslavia, Euro '92 qualifier. November 1990 in Copenhagen.
After the jubilant Dynamite years under coach Piontek in the eighties, this game represented rock bottom under coach Nielsen who was in charge of the Euro '92 qualification. This defeat was an important reason why the Yougoslavs were ahead of the Danes in the group, and this was a Denmark team falling apart. This loss gets bonus points for having the historical repercussions of (if only slightly) tainting the European Championship that Denmark would win after Yougoslavia couldn't go to the finals.
7: 0-3 vs. Sweden (interrupted). Euro 2008 qualifier in Copenhagen, June 2007.
The
Fan Attack game. The feeling after this game unfolded (going down 0-3, coming all the way back to tie it) left everybody thinking "What the Hell?". This game sucked all the momentum out of an already difficult qualification, Denmark would not make the Euro 2008 cut, and it had repercussions all the way through the Danish soccer federation.
6: 2-3 vs. Portugal. Group stage game at Euro 2012.
The current Danish team might be one of the more difficult to analyze in terms of performance ceiling. You simply never know what they will give you. And after a brilliant-if-lucky 1-0 win over Holland in the opening game, I think everyone had high expectations for this game against an opponent we have handled before (see above). It turned out to be a classic letdown - after coming back strong from an 0-2 hole, Portugal scored the winning goal in the 85th minute. This drama had it all - good play, five goals, and a classic scapegoat in Simon Poulsen, who must be used to that role by now (sloppy defense on the winning goal in this game, own goal vs. Holland in 2010 World Cup).
Of course, I'm writing this on the day it is to be decided what the consequence of this loss will be. It doesn't rank higher because Denmark still could move on to the knock-out stage. But both the Danish players and their coaches really looked disappointed after the game. No question this was about as tough as any loss they've experienced in their careers. And unfortunately, the Danes did not look like a team that is ready to move on from this heartbreaking loss and focus on what lies ahead in the tournament.
5: 1-3 vs. Romania. Final qualifier for 1990 World Cup. Bucharest, November '89.
The final whistle on the Piontek era. I remember schools ending early to allow children to get home and watch this game on TV, and if I remember correctly, a draw would have suffised. Letdown. Danish TV was with the players all along, even after they arrived very disappointed in Copenhagen Airport later the same evening. After having qualified for three consecutive finals rounds, this was the moment when it became clear that that would not be automatic for Denmark in years to come.
4: All three games at Euro '88 (2-3 vs. Spain, 0-2 vs. both Italy and West Germany)
The awkward moment when... you realize the party is over. This was the final tournament of the Dynamite team, but they disappointed (again) versus Spain, played uninspired against West Germany, and fielded an unexperienced team for the garbage time game versus Italy. Many of the Dynamite boys actually weren't that old, but the '88 team was a tired, injury-ridden group in desperate need of a touch of inspiration and some new leaders to take over.
3: 0-1 vs. Spain. Final qualifier for the 1994 World Cup, in Seville. November '93.
The
Crime Pays game. That was coach Richard Møller Nielsen's reaction when interviewed after this game where José María Bakero of Spain blatantly pushed goalkeeper Schmeichel to allow Fernando Hierro to score the only goal. This was a tough one to take - Denmark had been so close to breaking the Spain curse, beating the Spaniards in a 1-0 game in Copenhagen (the first significant win over Spain since Euro '84). Again, a draw would have been enough, but they just couldn't get it done.
2: 1-1 vs. Spain. Semi final of Euro '84 in Lyon (lost on penalties).
Sensing a pattern here? The origin of the Spain curse was a close and hard-fought semi-final of the first ever finals the Danes had seen. And as it is so often the case, our best player of the tournament, strike Preben Elkjær, was the one who missed the decisive penalty kick. Preben was a legend nevertheless, and to this day he maintains a great selv-deprecating humor about it, but the truth is Denmark has kept running into Spain in important situations (knock-out games, crucial qualifiers) ever since, but has not yet been able to avenge this loss.
1: 1-5 vs. Spain. Round of 16 at the FIFA World Cup 1986. Queretaro, Mexico.
The one that stings the most. The one that must not be mentioned. Denmark's Spain complex was put on full display in this thrashing at the hands of an inferior team with an exceptional counter striker named Emilio Butragueño. That Guy scored four of Spain's goals, and the penalty which led to the fifth was committed against him. So no doubt about Man of the Match honors here, and Butragueño and Spain were known as Denmark's 'Malevolent Spirit' for years to come.
This was where the inability to beat Spain became a trauma. There was so much quality, and so much hope in this team. Denmark will never again have a team so poised to mount a real challenge for a World Championship. After beating Scotland, South American champs Uruguay and eventual finalists West Germany in the group stage, they had become the crowd favorites of Mexico '86. But it all turned and burned out in one moment.
A Jesper Olsen became a notion in Denmark after the left-winger made a historically horrible back pass that led to Butragueño's first goal, an equalizer just before the break. That goal broke the Danes' spirit. Their physical strength, many have observed since, had been strained to the point of breaking while training for this tournament, and it all came crumbling down in the second half of this game. Jesper Olsen, who had scored Denmark's goal, and was generally a
technically great player, was never the same player. Never the same person. He fled the country, never to return. He stated in an interview two years ago that he's actually never talked to his own children about his legacy in Danish soccer. He came to personify the Spain complex, which - in spite of the Euro '84 defeat two years earlier - could fittingly be labelled
The Curse of the Jesper Olsen, as this was the moment the Spain thing became a big deal. Two years ago, when Olsen was on the cover of the Danish Railways' passenger magazine, Spain went on to win its first World Championship. Go figure.
The legacy of that 1986 team was the Uruguay win. The fact that we beat West Germany for the first time in a significant game. Captured the crowds. Played great. But this was the game that made the ultimate fate of the Dynamite team an Impossible Dream.
