Group E – Denmark
Netherlands
Denmark
Japan
Cameroon
Nickname: Danish Dynamite, Olsen-Banden (The Olsen Gang), Olsens Elleve (Olsen’s Eleven…how clever)
Colors: Red and White
Current World Ranking: 35
Manager: Morten Olsen
Olsen has been the Denmark national team coach since 2000 guiding them to the 2002 World Cup, 2004 European Championship and now the 2010 World Cup. He is a former player who used to captain the Denmark national team in the 1980’s and is the only person to achieve 100 national matches both as a player and a coach. Olsen has had a great coaching career at the club level elevating teams from regulation and winning championships but did not have the staying power and has remarkably been fired from all club coaching positions. Luckily he has had much better success at the national level and despite his failure to qualify the team for the 2006 World Cup and 2008 European Championship he has been the most successful manager of Denmark due to his attacking style of play and the respect he commands from his players.
History: Denmark has a unique soccer history due to the fact that from 1906 to 1978 the sport was simply an amateur pastime and without a professional league most of the best Danish footballers moved abroad to play and make a living. In addition to soccer being an amateur sport in the country, there was a rule in place until 1971 banning foreign-based professional players from playing for the national team. This explains that while Denmark was producing some of the best soccer talent at the time, the national team did not qualify for their first World Cup until 1986. The 2010 Finals will mark the country’s 4th World Cup appearance. Prior appearances include 1986, 1998 and 2002.
In the 1980’s Denmark steadily put the pressure on their opponents during qualifications for the 1982 World Cup and 1984 Euros. In 1986 the team finally qualified for their first international tournament, the World Cup. Denmark made a good first impression by sweeping their group with a 6-1 win over Uruguay only to be embarrassed by Spain in a 5-1 loss in the round of 16. After the World Cup the Danish wouldn’t qualify for another international tournament until the 1992 Euro’s. Even then they only made it into the tournament because Yugoslavia was barred from the competition allowing Denmark to take their place as they were the second place team in qualifying. In a shocking display of defensive football Denmark went on to win the tournament and surprise Europe in the process.
The team however could not repeat their 1992 success and did not qualify for the 1994 World Cup. Denmark didn’t make it back to the World Cup until 1998 where they impressed again advancing to the quarterfinals only to be knocked out by eventual runner-up Brazil. The success however was only a peak as the team had disappointing international appearances in the 2000 & 2004 Euros and the 2002 World Cup being knocked out of the group stages at each tournament. Failing to qualify for the 2006 World Cup and 2008 Euro, the 2010 World Cup marks a comeback to the international stage for Denmark. Denmark again surprised everyone by qualifying first out of a seemingly tough group beating Portugal and rivals Sweden. In fact, they only lost one game in qualifying to Hungary after their World Cup spot was secured.
Some other items of interest about the Denmark national team (according to Wikipedia) are their fans and their shirt numbers. Their fans are affectionately called the roligans. The roligan movement started in the 1980’s as an opposition to the hooliganism culture that has been associated with soccer fans. The goal of the movement is calm yet cheerful support during matches as rolig means calm in the Danish language. The shirt numbers are associated with the positions on the field, so to describe someone as “Denmark’s #9” would be to describe a player as the best choice for center forward. The tradition continues today with numbering players 1-11 and 12 and up for substitutes, however it will not apply for the World Cup as permanent squad numbers are required by FIFA.
Players:
Nicklas Bendtner – Striker
Nicklas Bendtner currently plays for Arsenal in the English Premier League and despite his lukewarm reception at Arsenal he will be a key player for Denmark going into the World Cup. At only 22 years old, Bendtner has been playing professional ball since 2004 with Arsenal including a loan to Birmingham City. Competing for playing time with Robin van Persie and Emmanuel Adebayor, Bendtner was often an off the bench impact player, however when van Persie was either rested or injured (which as we know was quite often) Bendtner was paired with Adebayor up front. This was a cause for friction in the team as Bendtner and Adebayor couldn’t stand each other, which became apparent in a 2008 League Cup game where the duo had a heated on-pitch altercation resulting in the referee having to separate the two. With Adebayor being transferred to Manchester City for the 2009/2010 season Bendtner has begun to play a more prominent role for Arsenal just in time for the World Cup.
Bendtner made his national team debut in 2006 and has continued to feature for the team since. He was a focal point of the Denmark attack during qualifying play for the 2010 World Cup scoring 3 goals including a game winning strike over Portugal. He earned the 2009 Danish Goal of the Year and Danish Football Player of the Year for his impressive contribution to the team during the qualifying campaign. At 6’-3” tall, Bendtner is a big and strong presence on the field able to hold off opponents and a threat in the air. He also has great pace for his size and is a versatile player up front making him a dangerous threat on the pitch.
All of his ability on the field has been somewhat overshadowed by his accused lack of focus and life away from the field. In May 2009 Bendtner was seen being escorted out of a London nightclub with his pants down at 4am after a loss to Manchester United in the Champions League. Let’s just hope he can keep his pants on and focus on the game in South Africa.
Daniel Agger – Center Back
Daniel Agger currently plays for Liverpool in the English Premier League but got his start with Brondby IF in the Danish Superliga and won the 2005 league championship with the team. Agger has been with Liverpool since January of 2006 and with a transfer fee of $5 million he was the most expensive Danish player sold to a foreign club as well as the most expensive defender Liverpool had purchased at the time. Competing against teammates and his own battle with injuries Agger has struggled to maintain a starting position for the team but has proved his worth when on the pitch with solid displays of defense and a knack for scoring opportunistic goals.
Agger made his national team debut in 2005 against Finland and put on a dominant performance a few months later against England completely shutting down Wayne Rooney allowing Denmark to walk away with a 4-1 win. Coming back from a back injury to play in the 2010 World Cup qualifying games Agger played in 8 games and scored a penalty against Malta. As long as Agger can stay fit, he will make life difficult for the opposition. He is a strong and powerful presence on the pitch and has the ability to score from distance.
In addition to his soccer career, Agger is a tattoo artist and restaurateur owning two restaurants in Liverpool and a pub in Denmark
Christian Poulsen – Midfielder
At 30 years old Christian Poulsen is experienced and has played for a lot of clubs throughout the years. He currently plays for Juventus FC in the Italian Serie A, but has also played in the Danish Superliga, the German Bundesliga and the Spanish La Liga winning league championships and a UEFA Cup.
He made his national team debut in 2001 and has accumulated 71 caps with 5 goals for Denmark. Poulsen appeared in both the 2002 World Cup and 2004 Euros and is the only player to win back to back Danish Player of the Year awards in 2005 and 2006. According to EPSN Soccernet he has great stamina on the field with good work ethic and is a precision passer; however he often lets his temper get the best of him making this guy one of the riskiest players for Denmark.
In a 2008 Euro qualifying match against Sweden that was tied 3-3 going into the 89th minute Poulsen punched Swedish striker Markus Rosenburg in the stomach inside the penalty area. This resulted in a straight red card for Poulsen, a Sweden penalty kick and an angered fan. A Danish supporter ran onto the pitch to attack the referee who decided to abandon the game. The match was forfeited to Sweden with a 3-0 victory knocking Denmark out of the 2008 Euros. Enough said. If Poulsen can keep his cool he can make a real impact for Denmark in the World Cup, but either way he will be entertaining to watch.
Prediction: Without knowing anything about Japan, I think Denmark’s biggest competition to get out of the group will be Cameroon. That being said, Denmark has had a string of successful games and upset favorite Portugal during qualifying so I think they have what it takes to come out of the group and give their next opponent a tough game. Most likely they will be runner-up behind the Netherlands to face the winner of Group F, which I’m picking to be Italy so they have their work cut out for them.
Thanks to the Scioto’s Paul Scholes for putting this post together.
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