Never before since the FIFA World Rankings were launched a couple of decades ago have three of the top five teams been slotted in the same pool in a major tournament. Add another top 10 team into the mix and Group B lives up to its name – The Group of Death.
Euro 2012: The Contenders – Denmark
Though last edition’s runners-up Germany and the World Cup runners-up Netherlands are expected to go through to the last eight, Portugal led by a red hot Cristiano Ronaldo and Denmark aren’t the easiest opponents you would want to face.
Denmark:
Apart from winning the European Championships in 1992, Denmark have hardly done enough to live up to the tag of being a team ranked in the top ten of the FIFA World Rankings. Morten Olsen has been at the helm of affairs since 2000 and has led the Danes to a Quarterfinal spot in 2004. However a dismal run of form saw the Danes fail to qualify for the 2006 World Cup and the European Championships a couple of years later.
Since then, the Danes have made significant progress finishing their qualifying campaign on top of the group ahead of Portugal. Manchester United reserve goalkeeper Anders Lindegaard will guard the posts for Denmark after an injury forced the experienced Thomas Sorensen to be ruled out. Olsen has always been a great fan of the 4-2-3-1 formation which would see the talented Christian Eriksen and Rommedahl play behind the former Arsenal striker Nicklas Bendtner.
Key Player: Only two years after being named as the youngest player in the World Cup, Christian Eriksen is definitely Denmark’s man to watch. Touted to be on the radar of Manchester United and other big clubs across Europe, Eriksen is not short of big match experience after playing in the Champions League for Ajax.
Other Stars: Daniel Agger, Anders Lindegaard, Nicklas Bendtner
Prediction: Group Stages, possibly the whipping boys of Group B.
Denmark would consider themselves unlucky to be drawn in the Group of Death and their first aim would be to avoid humiliation. They could as well play the role of the party poopers in the group.
Tags: Christian Eriksen, Denmark, EURO 2012, Football, Germany, Netherlands, Portugal, Soccer
