FIFA World Cup 2010
Denmark
 Denmark
Danish Football Association Best Results
World Cup Quarter-finals, 1998 European Championship Winners, 1992 Confederations Cup Winners, 1995 Olympic medal Silver 1908,1912,1960 Bronze 1948 |
The South Africa World Cup 2010 will mark the Danish squad’s fourth participation in the FIFA World Cup tournaments. Despite being one of the founding members of FIFA, Denmark has in the past several years dropped from its position as among the best squads in the world.
This Scandinavian country’s first participation in the World Cup was in Mexico 1986. The team may have failed to reach the second round, but neither did it give a poor debut performance. Recently, the Denmark team has reached the round of 16 twice, and the quarterfinals once. Its best record in international competitions was in the Euro Cup of Sweden 1992, where the team achieved the European Championship title.
The last six years haven’t brought particularly memorable results for the Danish squad. However, the team’s excellent performance against Portugal and Sweden in the qualifying rounds suggests that Denmark could give a strong fight in Group F of the South Africa World Cup.
Qualifying Stage
Denmark surprised everyone with its excellent performance in the qualifiers. In the final round the team faced Portugal's squad. Despite the magnificence of the Lusitanos players, Olsen Marten’s team managed to overturn the 1-0 lead Portugal had maintained for more than 78 minutes. In just 10 minutes the Danes turned the score around and made three unanswered goals for a heroic 3-1 victory. In the second leg of the match, the Danes managed to defend strongly to the end, with a tied score of 1-1.
When the squad faced its old rival, Sweden, in both games the Danes managed to secure victory by the minimum. Moreover, of the 10 matches played by the Danish squad in the qualifying stage, the Olsen team lost only one match, when it fell against the Hungarians in a game that, fortunately for the Danes, didn’t affect their qualification. The Danes obtained first place in their qualifying group as well as the ticket to the 2010 World Cup.
Players
Coach Olsen will align Nicklas Bendtner with other veterans, to give strength and mobility to the Danish offense.
Along with Bendtner, Jon Dahl Tomasson, the team’s captain, is another key figure for the attack. The experienced striker has been part of the Stuttgart team, Villarreal, and Newcastle United. Olsen will also play Christian Poulsen, a Juventus player, and Thomas Sørensen, Storke City goalkeeper.
Olsen has talented players to choose from. Now he must hope that injuries don’t complicate their participation in the World Cup.
Head Coach
Morten Olsen has led his national team since 2000. The talented former player participated in the Euro Cup in France in 1984 and in the Mexico World Cup in 1986 as the starter midfielder for the team he now coaches.
It was under his leadership that Denmark qualified for the World Cup in Korea- Japan 2002 and the UEFA EuroCup 2004. It was also under his tutelage that the Denmark squad ceased its appearances in international tournaments over the past six years, so a good performance in South Africa should ensure good dividends in the future.