While France are overrated ahead of the 2018 FIFA World Cup, what about Australia’s other group rivals, Denmark?
Numerous Danes, most notably former Melbourne City captain Michael Jakobsen, seem supremely confident in defeating Australia, as Denmark hasn’t lost a match since October 2016.
They have attacking flair coming from Christian Eriksen, who scored 11 goals in World Cup qualification, as well as young prospect Pione Sisto, who plays for Celta de Vigo and is predicted to be world-class in years to come.
Meanwhile, their defence, consisting of Simon Kjær, Mathias Jørgensen, Andreas Christensen and Jannik Vestergaard, only conceded nine goals in qualifying.
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Denmark’s first game in 2017 was a friendly against the Germans, with the same squad that won the Confederations Cup (and defeated Australia 3-2). The Danes led after 18 minutes as a result of a mistake from Antonio Rudiger, before Joshua Kimmich equalised in the 88th minute with an overhead kick.
A draw was probably the fairest result.
Three months later, in September, Denmark defeated Poland 4-0 – a match that was statistically quite even, with both teams having numerous shots on goal. However, Denmark’s defence was noticeably better, while Poland left Thomas Delaney and Andreas Cornelius unmarked for the first and second goal. However, this convincing victory was not enough to unseat the Poles, who still finished first in the group.
In the qualifying playoffs, Denmark defeated Ireland 5-1 away from home, Eriksen managing a hattrick, including two world-class strikes from outside the box. Ireland’s defence was made to look disorganised, after defensive mistakes from the first and most notably the fourth goal.
In recent friendlies, Denmark have kept four consecutive clean sheets – against Panama, Chile, Sweden and Mexico – with three of those four playing in the World Cup. Denmark’s defence will most undoubtedly be difficult to penetrate.
However, Denmark is reliant on Eriksen, who scored nearly half their total qualifying goals. Keeping him quiet – easier said than done – could nullfiy the whole team.
Additionally, Niklas Bendtner, who scored a total of 30 goals in around 80 internationals, is missing out on the final squad due to an injury, which means either Andreas Cornelius, Yussuf Poulsen or Nicolai Jørgensen needs to step up. Unfortunately for the Danes, the three have only scored four goals collectively in the past 18 or so month
The Socceroos will find it difficult against Denmark, but Denmark will also find it difficult to break Australia down.
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