Great Danes hoping for World Cup success
Denmark’s chances of success at the 2010 World Cup may ultimately rest on the performances of striker Soren Larsen.
He has scored ten goals in the last two World Cup qualifying campaigns, and was the top scorer in Denmark’s qualifying group this time around. He beat the likes of Cristiano Ronaldo and Zlatan Ibrahimovic to take the accolade as Denmark cantered their way to South Africa.
Denmark’s progression to the finals was impressive as they lost only one of their ten games in a group that contained Portugal and Sweden. They beat Portugal 3-2 in Lisbon whilst holding them to a 1-1 draw at home. They also completed a double over Sweden, beating them home and away 1-0. Hungary were the only side to beat them but this was in the final match of the campaign, when qualification had already been secured.
Team spirit is key to the Danes and Larsen acknowledges that this may see them through in South Africa. Denmark have featured in three World Cup Finals and have qualified from their group on all three occasions. Their best run came in France ‘98, when they reached the quarter-finals. With a group that contains Cameroon, Netherlands and Japan, they will be confident of making it four in a row in South Africa even though the trio will offer a few tough tests. They are joint 4/1 second favourites with Cameroon to proceed.
Larsen reflects Denmark’s confidence that they can qualify for the last 16. He cites a 1-1 draw between Denmark and the Netherlands as proof that the Danish side contains considerable quality and can compete with the best in the world. Looking at the team sheet, this is confirmed as many Danish players play at Europe’s top clubs. These include Daniel Agger at Liverpool, Daniel Jensen at Bremen, Christian Poulsen at Juventus, Dennis Rommedahl at Ajax and Nicklas Bendtner at Arsenal.
Larsen is aiming to pick up a point from each of Denmark’s tricky games against the Netherlands and Cameroon whilst winning the Japan game will be key to their qualification hopes. Aside from team spirit, Larsen believes that the adversity that they suffered during their qualifying campaign will stand them in good stead.
Speaking to FIFA.com, Larsen said; “Our main strength is our team spirit. We keep things tight and try to get forward with plenty of passing down the flanks. It’s very similar to the Netherlands really but not quite at the same level. We fight for one another, so if someone makes a mistake, we run the extra 100 metres to help them out. We had a lot of injuries to deal with during qualifying, but we still managed to grind out some good results. That shows the character of the squad, but we can play some decent football too. It’s not going to be easy playing against us.”
Larsen accepts that the Danes are a long way behind tournament favourites Spain and Brazil in the reckoning. He believes that a Spain v Brazil final (11/1 chance) would be hard to call but he does think Spain are a stronger team if they play to their full potential. Despite this, Larsen believes the Danes can impress in South Africa.
Regardless of the Danes’ deficiencies, they do have considerable strengths and Larsen can’t wait to prove himself on the greatest stage in the world. He accepts that it may be his last opportunity to shine at football’s greatest tournament as Denmark don’t regularly qualify for international finals. But with the quality they have in the side, they will prove to be a difficult prospect for anyone they come up against.
