Without the presence of http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Denmark-c2884 weeded their way out of the group stages to win the European Championship in 1992
If one talks about Danish football legends, names like Peter Schmeichel, Michael Laudrup, Brian Laudrup and Jan Molby come to mind. The aforementioned players are widely considered as one of the best Danish football has ever produced.
However, it wasn’t Michael Laudrup who played for http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Liverpool-c39809 legend, who helped the Football Aces to their first and till now, international success.
Due to differences with then-Danish manager Richard Møller Nielsen, Jan Molby and Michael Laudrup chose to quit the national team. Departure of two valuable members of a young Danish side was to have serious consequences according to many people.
What’s even more surprising is the fact that the Danes initially did not even qualify for the Euros. Instead, they replaced Yugoslavia in Sweden who were disqualified due to the Yugoslav Wars.
After a poor start to the group stages in which the Danes were held to a stalemate by http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Michel-c25453 Platini, the Danish fans were resigned to the fact that they would be going home way earlier than expected.
In the first two group games, it was clear that without the likes of Michael Laudrup and Jan Olby, Denmark lacked creativity and charisma.
When Henrik Larsen scored the game’s first goal in the eighth minute, it was thought that the Danes would have an easy ride. However, the French team laid siege on the Danish defence and deservedly, got the equaliser through Papin in the 60th minute.
With all confidence seemingly sapped out, Denmark were on the verge of crashing out of the competition. However, it was substitute Lars Elstrup who came with the goods as he gave his side an unexpected lead in the 78th minute.
Both England and France were considered to be the pre-tournament favourites but crashed out in surprising fashion.
However, looking back at the group stages, this was a Danish side that showed a lot of teamwork and tenacity that is attributed to underdogs.
After finishing second in the group, the Danes set a date in the semi-finals with the mighty http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Netherlands-c753, a team that was brimming with talent at that time. The likes of Marco Van Basten, a young and talented Dennis Bergkamp, Frank Rijkaard, Frank de Boer and Ronald Koeman awaited the surprise package of the tournament.
And once again, it was Larsen who gave his side an early lead (5th minute) in the Ullevi Stadium at Gothenburg.
Many people suggest that the Dutch win over http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Germany-c2904 made them overconfident. Netherlands beat the Germans 3-1 in their last group game and might have thought that they were in for an easy ride against the Danes.
Though Dennis Bergkamp did equalise in the 23rd minute, the Danes did not lay down and instead, strived to get a lead once again. And it was once again Henrik Larsen who came with the goods.
The Danes controlled the game and it was Brian Laudrup who was proving to be the star of the second half. The young attacking midfielder had settled his differences with Richard Møller Nielsen before the tournament began (while his brother chose not to) and grew in every game he played in Sweden.
However, another twist was on the cards as Rijkaard scored from close range at the death to take the game to extra time. It was level pegging after two halves of extra-time and the game went to penalties where Marco van Basten was the only player whose penalty was saved as the Dutch crashed out of the Euros to everybody’s surprise.
Germany had defeated hosts Sweden in the other semi-final and it was to be one of the most dramatic finals in European Championship history.
Once again, the Danes went into this game as the underdogs with people expecting their run to come to an abrupt end given Germany’s obvious firepower and experience.
However, once again, the Danes defied critics when Jensen opened scoring in the 18th minute. Though it was Germany who dominated possession throughout the first half, Berti Vogts side just could not find a way past a resolute Danish defence that was willing to defend all night if they had to.
In the second half, Jensen and Laudrup once again started controlling the centre of the park and were deeply involved in the build-up to the goal midfielder http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Kim-c20955 Vilfort scored in the 78th minute.
Though the Germans pressed on, it seemed that the Danes were not going to let their lead slip away. In the end, referee http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Bruno-c8098 Galler blew the final whistle as the Danish bench leapt from their seats to celebrate an historic achievement of a team that had so many problems to deal with ahead of the tournament.
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