State of the Danish Soccer Team

Denmark running after Brazil in Hamburg

Okay, my expectations were down before this European Championship, and the Danish team has really surprised me so far. I was at Hamburg's Volksparkstadion for the penultimate tuneup before the Euro, and the guys looked awful against a bunch of Brazilian teenagers on their way to the beach. Either a step too slow, not good enough, or just plain unlucky. Denmark didn't look like a team destined for anything but a quick trip home. 

A terrible first half left us all wondering how this team could accomplish anything. The second half was somewhat more encouraging, but it was a friendly game where the Danes surely had more reasons to concentrate - and they failed pretty spectacularly.

Of course, we did get bombed against Holland, but somehow withstood the attacks and took three points. And then that horrible Portugal game. We usually play well against Portugal, and it seemed like the Danes had Cristiano Ronaldo under control for the most part. Bendtner scored the equalizer. All was well. But then the 3-2 goal happened, and the Danish team was left with one of the most disappointing defeats to an opponent other than Spain for the past 25 years. It was about as anticlimactic as anything you will ever see in international soccer.

And what now? Germany is probably the best team not only in the group, but the best overall team of the tournament. Yes, I know Spain played well against Ireland, but one, it was against one of the weakest teams of the Euro, and two, it took a bit of sloppy defense from the Irishmen and an angry Cesc Fabregas to actually get the ball into the back of the net more than once. Germany is an exciting team - Spain is not, unless you like their one-goalie-ten-midfielders way of playing. Which I don't.
But can Denmark beat Germany? Probably not. Can we draw against them? Stranger things have happened with the Danish soccer team. Like twenty years ago.

Oh, and by the way Dennis Rommedahl doesn't belong on the field. I've repeated that many times over, but he really doesn't. He probably could do well in a forty-yard dash, or in track and field, but as a soccer player he is simply not talented enough as a ballplayer to be on the field for a team that likes to play the passing style of soccer.

I'll be hoping for the best for our team, and in any event looking forward to a heck of a game on Sunday.
Coming up: A brief history of the Danish national soccer team's ten greatest victories and their ten worst defeats. A hint: at least one of their games from this Euro tournament is on one of the lists.