When goalkeeper Kasper Schmeichel and Denmark face the DFB team in the European Championship round of 16, his father is once again omnipresent: Peter secured the European Championship title against Germany in 1992.
Kasper Schmeichel was five years old when his father became a Danish European Championship hero. In 1992, the Danes sensationally reached the final of the European Championship in Sweden. In the final, the underdogs faced Germany and took an early lead.
The Germans pressed, but 28-year-old Peter Schmeichel excelled in goal and drove Jürgen Klinsmann to despair. Denmark won the title. Its only one at a European Championship.
Round of 16 Arrow right Listen live and watch the ticker – Germany vs Denmark Arrow right
“Move Danish party to Dortmund”
Now the two countries are meeting again, 32 years after the “Danish Dynamite” title win. Peter Schmeichel has long since retired and is a TV pundit. But “Schmeichel” is still on the Danish jersey with the number one. Kasper Schmeichel has been running the family business for years and will in all probability play his 104th international match against Germany.
“Let’s move the Danish party to Dortmund,” wrote Schmeichel junior on the social media platform “Instagram” before the match with hosts Germany. Kasper Schmeichel is already 37 years old himself. The European Championship in Germany could be his last major tournament with the national team. He has had his own career, becoming English champion with Leicester City. He now plays in Belgium for RSC Anderlecht.
Last name “definitely no help”
He was a “very special Schmeichel”, wrote the Danish daily newspaper “BT” in 2021, when Denmark reached the semi-finals of the European Championship and experienced the drama surrounding Christian Eriksen in the first group game. Schmeichel was one of the main characters in this second, almost completed Danish tournament fairytale.
Nevertheless, he has always remained a little bit his father’s son. Kasper himself once admitted in an interview with the BBC that the surname was “definitely no help”. His father is also aware of the burden of his own career. “He was compared to me at every turn. That’s really unfair,” Schmeichel senior once said.
Interview with your own father
At this tournament, the father’s shadow is once again unavoidable. On the first day of group matches, there was a special moment for both Schmeichels: the father interviewed his son. Peter Schmeichel is working as a TV expert for US television at the tournament in Germany. A beautiful scene, with a warm embrace and jersey handover.
Now, before the round of 16 match against Germany, the questions will naturally come up again about his father and the football miracle of 1992. Can the junior also topple the favorite? Will Niclas Füllkrug also be crushed by Schmeichel’s lightning-fast reflexes? The media have long since found their topic.
Germany favorite again
Then as now, Germany is the favorite when the two teams take to the pitch in Dortmund on Saturday (June 29, 2024, kick-off 9 p.m., radio report and live ticker).
Kasper Schmeichel called the host a “huge football nation”. Denmark’s national coach Kasper Hjulmand immediately invoked the spirit of the past: “We played big games against big opponents,” said Hjulmand.
Kasper Schmeichel has never played against Germany in a major tournament. In 2012, when Denmark lost to Germany in the group stage, he was on the bench. So Germany has not yet broken the Schmeichel curse. Kasper will do everything he can to keep it that way.
