At the end of the suspense and thanks to the fair play ranking, Kasper Hjulmand’s Denmark qualified for the round of 16 of Euro-2024, with its draw against Serbia (0-0), making an appointment with Germany on Saturday (9:00 p.m.) in Dortmund.
Denmark, facing Serbia, and Slovenia, facing England, engaged in a long-distance duel between Munich and Cologne for second place in a very tight Group C, first place going to England unconvincing.
In Munich, the Danes generally dominated the debates without managing to take cover and without even posing a huge danger to Predrag Rajkovic’s Serbian goal. And in added time of the second half they broke out in a few unnecessary cold sweats, but Kasper Schmeichel, hardly called upon during the match, made two saves to preserve the draw and qualification.
The message of encouragement from Novak Djokovic, engaged in a race against time for Wimbledon (July 1-14) and the Olympic Games in Paris (July 26-August 11) but present in the stands of the Munich stadium, will not have not enough.
Dominant in the first period with possession of the ball, the Danes created the clearest chances, notably with Christian Eriksen, whose shot at the entrance to the penalty area was pushed away with his fingertips by the Serbian goalkeeper Predrag Rajkovic.
Vestergaard misses his head
The former Stade de Reims goalkeeper, transferred to Mallorca in the summer of 2022, was called upon several times by Kasper Schmeichel’s teammates, without really being put in danger. In the 4th minute, Jonas Wind’s attempt lacked strength on a free kick combination with Eriksen.
The Serbs were able to turn their backs on ten minutes of intense pressing from the Danes on Rajkovic’s goal between the 15th and 25th minutes.
In the second half, the Danes showed themselves incapable of targeting the slightest shot from distance, at the conclusion of fluid movements, like Morten Hjulmand in the 67th minute.
The best chance came from a corner from captain Eriksen, perfectly balanced for Jannik Vestergaard. Yet all alone at the penalty spot, the defender took a bad header, and his attempt landed directly in the arms of Rajkovic.
Second place in the group for Denmark, finally won thanks to the fair play classification (six yellow cards for Denmark against seven for Slovenia), held for a very long time thanks to the general classification of the qualifying phase, because the tie was perfect with Slovenia, until the yellow card for Slovenian Jaka Bijol in the 72nd minute.
