SHARE
COPY LINK
EURO 2012

FOOTBALL

Danes need ‘luck and graft’ against Germans

Denmark coach Morten Olsen insists his side need just a little luck and lots of hard work to beat Germany in Sunday's Euro 2012 clash to book their place in the quarter-finals.

Danes need 'luck and graft' against Germans
Photo: DPA

Denmark take on Germany at Arena Lviv with the Germans needing a point to

finish as Group B winners having already beaten Portugal and Holland.

After defeat to Portugal following their shock win over Holland, Olsen’s team can still make the knock-out phase and a draw would be good enough if Portugal lose to Holland in Kharkiv in the other Group B match.

“Nothing is impossible and we’ll be going for victory,” said Olsen. “We are looking forward to it, Germany have shone and must be among the favourites to win the competition.

“They have the ‘show’ aspect and we have a huge amount of work ahead to stop them, but we have a great team spirit and need that little bit of luck,” he added.

“We go into the last game with everyone still hopeful of advancing and you can’t get more exciting than that.”

After the euphoria of their 1-0 win over Holland last Saturday, the Danes were brought crashing back to earth on Wednesday with a 3-2 loss to Portugal and Olsen said the pain of defeat has served to motivate his team.

“Over the past week we’ve had two dressing rooms, one euphoric and one full of grave, dark feelings. We’re keen to experience the first one again,” said the 62-year-old coach.

AFP/jlb

Member comments

Log in here to leave a comment.
Become a Member to leave a comment.

RACISM

VIDEO: Spain’s La Liga reviews video of boy racially abusing Vinicius

Spain's La Liga on Monday said it was reviewing a video of a child making racist insults towards Real Madrid forward Vinicius Junior during the 2-2 draw with Valencia at the weekend.

VIDEO: Spain's La Liga reviews video of boy racially abusing Vinicius

“We’re in the process of studying and analysing the facts from a legal standpoint to see what we can and should do,” La Liga sources said.

In a video published by a journalist for ESPN Brasil, and picked up by Spanish media, a boy sitting in a woman’s lap can be heard calling Vinicius a “monkey”.

The Brazilian scored twice for Madrid as his team recovered from two goals down at Mestalla on Saturday.

Vinicius raised his fist in a “Black Power” salute after the first of his two goals at a ground where he was racially abused last season. Valencia subsequently banned three people from the stadium for life.

The 23-year-old has become a symbol of the fight against discrimination in Spanish football after suffering racist abuse on many occasions, and he was jeered repeatedly by home supporters on Saturday.

Jude Bellingham was sent off after the final whistle against Valencia for protesting after the referee blew the final whistle right before the England midfielder headed home what he thought was the winning goal.

READ ALSO: Football star Vinicius highlights racist behaviour from Spanish fans

SHOW COMMENTS