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Ecstatic jubilation in Copenhagen: Denmark advance to the last sixteen
Photo:
Wolfgang Rattay - Pool / Getty Images
Cell phone party:
After the game, the Danes stand in a circle at the center line, a man in a suit stands in their midst. He stares at his smartphone, the camera shows how he is frantically updating a soccer app. It should show him that the game between Finland and Belgium in Saint Petersburg is over, that this Danish national soccer team has made it to the round of 16 after their terrible start in this European Football Championship. A few seconds later, the Danish players and the 25,000 in the Parken Stadium erupted in jubilation.
The result:
Denmark won 4-1 (1-0) against Russia, read the match report here. But that was only half the battle, because Finland also had to lose at the same time. Indeed, the Belgians won by two goals in the closing stages. Denmark reached the round of 16 of the European Championship nine days after Christian Eriksen's cardiac arrest.
The constellation:
The Danes lost the first two games of this European Championship against Finland and Belgium, and finished fourth in the last group match day. Because Russia had also won against Finland, the direct comparison between Denmark, Russia and Finland was evened out. So the goal difference counted. Even a constellation in which the fair play rating decides between Denmark and Finland was conceivable. A team has never made it into the knockout round after two opening defeats.
First half:
Russia seemed to play for time almost from the start, but a draw was probably enough for them to advance. But they did not expect a dream goal. Pierre-Emile Højbjerg played Mikkel Damsgaard around 20 meters from the goal, the 20-year-old took the ball and flicked it into the right angle. Matvey Safonov seemed surprised by the Dane's shooting technique, the ball rose and fell into the goal immediately before the crossbar (38th). The destructive Russian defensive tactic, which had only produced one shot by Aleksandr Golovin (18th), was gone.
Eriksen replacement:
After the Danes' dramatic opening game against Belgium, Eriksen was replaced by Mikkel Damsgaard, a 20-year-old who has played for Sampdoria in Italy since last year. And this Damsgaard, who already showed strong approaches against Belgium, excelled against the Russians. A smooth dribble here, a smart pass there - and above all this beautiful leading goal. "Such a technology is unique, that reminded me a bit of Eriksen," said ARD expert Bastian Schweinsteiger. And he might not have been the only one who had certain parallels in mind.
59th Minute:
In the second half it was dramatic - and ecstatic. Russia played out briefly, Roman Zobnin wanted to play back to the goalkeeper under pressure, but did not even look back, but blindly fit into the lurking Yussuf Poulsen. Matvey Safonov stumbled after the ball and couldn't prevent the Leipzig player from being pushed in. Russia coach Stanislav Cherchesov rages on the sidelines.
67th - 70th minute:
Suddenly the spectators in the Parken Stadium freaked out, Belgium had supposedly taken the lead. Only a minute later, however, the hit was withdrawn due to an offside decision. And almost at the same time, referee Clément Turpin pointed to the penalty spot in Copenhagen after Jannik Vestergaard had touched the Russian Aleksandr Sobolev lightly and apparently brought him down. Artem Dzyuba made it 1: 2 and suddenly there was complete silence from the stands.
76th - 82nd minute:
Again it was loud in the Parken Stadium. Again, Belgium scored a goal in Saint Petersburg - and this time it counted (79th). And the preliminary decision followed: After two strong saves by Russia's Safanov, central defender Andreas Christensen ran up from the back area and shot at goal from 20 meters with the full span. The ball hit the center left, but was so powerful that Safanov could hardly react (79th). Three minutes later Denmark countered via Joakim Mæhle, who pulled into the box from the left and hit the left corner. It was four to one, Denmark played like unleashed.
Happy end?
At this point you could already write of a happy ending.
Eriksen is at home and on the mend, his teammates reached the knockout round after the shocking European Championship opener.
But it doesn't have to be an end yet, rather the hope remains that the happy ending for
this
Danish team will not follow
for
a few weeks - on July 11th in the final in London.
They showed that they have the potential against Russia.
And now?
The round of 16 against Wales will follow on Saturday (6 p.m., live ticker SPIEGEL.de).
After that, the Netherlands might wait in the quarter-finals, and maybe Spain or England in the semi-finals.
You would only meet the top favorites from Italy, France or Belgium in the final.