Denmark are used to being a cult team, with the support of neutral fans. Just as she got used to being pointed out as the team that “can arrive”. That zebra that is able to go further than expected. Even if it doesn’t always happen.
The scenario will be repeated at the World Cup in Qatar.
Being a country with a small population (about six million people) and known for its happy fans already arouses sympathy. But the team will arrive in Doha carrying the baggage of Christian Eriksen’s history to captivate even more fans.
The country’s top football name had a heart attack on the field during last year’s Euro Cup match against Finland. He was dead for five minutes, until he was resuscitated by paramedics. Without him, Denmark was the great story of the tournament, only eliminated in the semi-final by England thanks to a very dubious penalty in extra time.
Eriksen was out of football for 259 days before making his debut for Premier League club Brentford. He is one of the best current players for Manchester United.
Denmark is the team that began to gain prominence in the 1984 Eurocup, when they reached the semifinals. Two years later, he would be the sensation of the group stage of the World Cup in Mexico. They defeated Scotland (1-0), Uruguay (6-1) and Germany (2-0). In the round of 16, they were thrashed 5-1 by Spain.
Since then, the team has had good campaigns (they reached the quarterfinals in 1998) and other poor ones (they fell in the first phase in 2010). There have been occasions when players have returned home with the “what if…” thought. In 2018, in Russia, he made the round of 16 against Croatia. It was better than the rival for most of the game, but lost on penalties.
The Croatians would then reach the final of the World Cup.
Denmark arrives at the 2022 World Cup on the heels of good results. In addition to the semi in Eurocup, he got the spot for the World Cup with nine wins in ten games. In the Nations League, he beat France (his opponent in Qatar) in Paris and Copenhagen.
“It’s great [ser visto como zebra] because it means we are doing something right. For me, better than that just saying that we are one of the favorites. I don’t think we’re better than the others, but we know we have a good team and we can compete against anyone,” coach Kasper Hjulmand told FIFA.
Hjulmand manages, in the national team, to make the most of players who do not show the same football for their teams. As is the case of midfielder Mikkel Damsgaard (Sampdoria-ITA) and striker Martin Braithwaite (Espanyol-ESP). He also achieved defensive cohesion with the presence of defenders Simon Kjaer (Milan-ITA), Andres Christensen (Barcelona-ESP) and midfielder Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg (Tottenham Hotspur-ING).
It will be Denmark’s second consecutive World Cup, something that only happened when they qualified for the 1998 and 2002 tournaments.
When it was defeated by Brazil in the quarter-finals of the tournament in France, the European team was captained by goalkeeper Peter Schmeichel, father of Kasper Schmeichel, current owner of shirt 1.
The World Cup in Qatar comes 30 years after Schmeichel senior led the country to the greatest achievement in its history: the Euro 1992 title.
Denmark are in Group D and will debut against Tunisia on 22 November. France and Australia complete the bracket.
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