It was already shortly after midnight, but Kasper Hjulmand was in no hurry to leave the Munich Arena. “Now it’s all about enjoying this,” said the Danish coach. He was referring to reaching the round of 16 of the European Championship.
A media representative seemed to have only limited understanding for this. He tried to persuade Hjulmand to finally get on the waiting bus. His signals became more and more hectic. But the coach took his time on Tuesday and answered all questions patiently – even in German, although he has been keen to point out at this European Championship that he is no longer as practiced and therefore prefers to answer in English.
Either Hjulmand has practiced a bit in the past few days or he is simply understating it, because his German is still very good even ten years after his engagement at Mainz 05. “It must be clear to everyone that it was not a given that we would advance here,” he said after the 0:0 draw against Serbia, which gave Denmark, as second in the group, a duel with Germany in the round of 16 on Saturday (9 p.m. in the FAZ live ticker for the European Football Championship, on ZDF and on MagentaTV).
We need to become more effective”
Denmark managed this with three draws and two goals, playing solidly for the most part but not producing any exciting performances. Hjulmand knows this too. “We still lack the power up front,” says the coach. This is also because Rasmus Højlund, the otherwise outstanding striker from Manchester United, has been lackluster so far. He is left alone in the penalty area too often, his coach thinks. The Danes have tried to attack from the wings far too rarely. “We still lack something up front,” says Hjulmand.
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Captain Christian Eriksen, who scored one of Denmark’s two goals in the tournament, put it more specifically. “We have to become more effective.” However, the team has only conceded two goals. This “very good defense,” says Leipzig’s Yussuf Poulsen, “is the basis for progressing in a tournament.”
The opponents’ performances so far have nothing to worry national coach Julian Nagelsmann about. Rather, the Danes’ self-image is. Hjulmand sees a competitive advantage “based on our solidarity”. This sense of togetherness, he said before the start of the European Championship, “is our strength.” A look at history confirms the coach’s opinion. “We play for the big moments,” says Thomas Delaney. He was there when the Scandinavians reached the semi-finals of the European Championship three years ago and were unfortunately knocked out by England because of a controversial penalty. “When we play against big nations, we always give our best,” Hjulmand stated.
The story of Denmark’s great moments began 40 years ago under German coach Sepp Piontek. At the 1984 European Championships, they made it to the semi-finals, losing to Spain on penalties. Eight years later, the Danes turned European football on its head under coach Richard Möller Nielsen.
Happy in the role of the outsider
Having only entered the tournament with eight teams at short notice as a replacement for Yugoslavia, who had been excluded because of the Balkan War, they beat France and England in the preliminary round, defeated the Netherlands in the semi-finals and – what German football fan doesn’t know this? – the highly favoured team of Berti Vogts in the final. It is true that Möller Nielsen brought his players back from holiday ten days before the start of the tournament and asked them before the first game not to embarrass the nation, but the Danes were not quite as unprepared as the legend goes.
They simply seem to feel comfortable in the role of underdog. In the 19 years between the European Championship title and the 2021 semi-finals, they have only made it past the group stage once. Teams like Denmark may find it easier to react rather than act themselves, but that only gets them further if they manage to exploit their opponents’ weaknesses at the same time. Hjulmand and his players managed to do that perfectly against England in the second group game. Coach Gareth Southgate’s team, which started the European Championship as one of the big favorites, has stumbled through the tournament so far.
Even after the first three games, Hjulmand still considers Germany to be “among the narrow circle of favorites.” Or perhaps only since the start of the tournament. Wolfsburg’s Joakim Mæhle sees it no differently: “We know their quality.” And probably also their weaknesses. And Poulsen promised: “We will use our chances.” For Hjulmand, the psychological aspect of his team is also an important factor. His team obviously felt pressure to reach the round of 16, as they were the favorites against Slovenia and Serbia. But now, says the coach, “we can play more freely.” Just like an underdog.
