This is Sportstar's match blog of the EURO 2020 outing between Wales and Denmark which happened at the Johan Cruyff Arena.
That's it for today. Thanks for tuning in!
MATCH REPORT |
So Denmark moves into the quarterfinals of the 2021 European Championships with this victory. It will face the winner of the Netherlands vs Czech Republic round of 16 match. On the other hand, it is the end of the road for Gareth Bale and his Wales outfit, which had made the semifinals during EURO 2016 in France.
MATCH HIGHLIGHTS:
AND IT'S FULL-TIME! FINAL SCORE: DENMARK 4 - 0 WALES!!!
90+3' GOOOOAAAAALLLLL!!!! MARTIN BRAITHWAITE SCORESSS!!! DENMARK 4 - 0 WALES!! After an extremely long VAR check for offside, Braithwaite gets a goal in this game. Substitute Andreas Cornelius came up with the assist and his team's striker did the rest.
90' FIVE MINUTES OF STOPPAGE TIME HAS BEEN ADDED ON AT THE END OF THE SECOND HALF! Wales is down to 10 men. This is adding insult to injury. Harry Wilson receives a straight red card from the referee after coming up with a silly challenge.
87' GOOOOAAAAAAALLLLLL!!!!!!!! JOAKIM MAEHLE SCOREESSSS!!! DENMARK 3 - 0 WALES!!!! Jensen received the ball from a throw-in. He set up Maehle on the other wing with a delightful pass. Maehle received the ball, dribbled past an opposition defender and slotted the ball home with ease.
84' CORNER FOR DENMARK! Mathias Jensen sends a dangerous cross into the box. But the Wales defence is alert as the danger is averted. Denmark looks much more likelier to score a third than Wales to pull a goal back here.
81' FREE-KICK FOR DENMARK! This is from a dangerous position. Martin Braithwaite is on set-piece duty now. He tries to curl the ball into goal. However, his shot misses the target by a whisker.
78' WALES CHANGES! Forwards Kieffer Moore and Daniel James make way for David Brooks and Tyler Roberts in the middle. Coach Page would be hoping that the fresh legs can make a difference.
75' DENMARK SUBSTITUTIONS! Danish boss Hjulmand has completed all his substitutions in this game. Joachim Andersen and Nicolai Boilesen have replaced the injured Simon Kjaer and Jens Stryger Larsen, respectively, on the field. Goalkeeper Kasper Schmeichel has taken the captain's armband from Kjaer.
72' It's now or never for Wales here. Head coach Rob Page should ask his players to maintain a high line because they need at least two goals in the next 18 minutes plus injury time to stay alive in EURO 2020.
69' ANOTHER DANISH CHANGE! Kasper Dolberg is given a rest as he is replaced by Andreas Cornelius. Denmark manager Kasper Hjulmand has a long happy chat with today's only goalscorer.
66' CHANCE FOR DENMARK! Mathias Jensen decides to surprise Wales goalkeeper Danny Ward with a quick shot from the edge of the box, but his effort came back off the right post. So close!
63' LONG THROW! Wales skipper Gareth Bale executes a long throw-in from the left flank. After a rebound inside the box, Joe Allen tries to find the target with a volley. However, the ball goes over the crossbar.
60' SEVERAL SUBSTITUTIONS! The Danish duo of Mikkel Damsgaard and Thomas Delaney make way for Christian Norgaard and Mathias Jensen, respectively, on the field. Meanwhile, Harry Wilson replaces Joseff Morrell for Wales.
57' Wales has completed too many back passes and side passes today. The team's attacking moves so far haven't been effective at all, with the exception of Bale's chances early in the first half.
54' CHANCE FOR WALES! Aaron Ramsey tries to find his teammate Gareth Bale with a through ball but Denmark defender Joakim Maehle comes up with a crucial sliding tackle to complete the interception.
51' Apart from the opening 15 minutes of this round of 16 game, Denmark has completely dominated Wales when it comes to the possessional, passing and attacking statistics.
48' GOOOOAAAAAAAALLLLLLLL!!!!!!!!!! KASPER DOLBERG SCORES AGAIN!!! DENMARK 2 - 0 WALES!!!!! Martin Braithwaite came up with a wonderful run on the right flank. He tried to send a low cross into the box. The substitute Neco Williams got to the ball but his clearance fell to Dolberg, who found the back of the net yet again.
THE SECOND HALF IS UNDERWAY!
Forty-five minutes to go. Stay tuned!
AND IT'S HALF-TIME! SCORE: DENMARK 1 - 0 WALES!!!
45' TWO MINUTES OF STOPPAGE TIME HAS BEEN ADDED ON AT THE END OF THE FIRST HALF! Denmark wins yet another corner. This will be the team's seventh corner kick of the match.
42' SUBSTITUTION! Wales stand-in manager Rob Page is forced to replace the injured Connor Roberts with another full-back Neco Williams. This yet another huge blow for the Welsh outfit.
39' SECOND YELLOW CARD OF THE GAME! The referee has booked two Wales players so far. It was defender Joe Rodon first and now it is forward Kieffer Moore who is penalised for a mistimed tackle.
36' CORNER FOR DENMARK! Jens Stryger Larsen is still on set-piece duty. Defender Jannik Vestergaard commits a foul inside the box as the referee awards Wales a free-kick.
33' GOOD SAVE! The goal-scorer Kasper Dolberg decides to take another shot from long. This time Wales shot-stopper Danny Ward is extremely alert as he pulls off a nice save.
30' OFFSIDE! Mikkel Damsgaard was a little too eager to get to a pass from his Denmark teammate Martin Braithwaite. The linesman immediately raised his flag and the referee awarded Wales a free-kick.
27' GOOOOOAAAAAAALLLLLLL!!!!!!!!!! KASPER DOLBERG SCORESSSS!!!! DENMARK 1 - 0 WALES!!! Dolberg takes a great first touch to control a killer pass from Mikkel Damsgaard and curls the ball inside the right post in trademark fashion. After a VAR check for offside, the goal stands.
24' CLOSE! Denmark midfielder Thomas Delaney whips the ball in, but it fails to reach any of his teammates. Wales defender Ben Davies heads it out to concede a set-piece, which doesn't result in a goal.
21' THREE CORNERS IN A ROW FOR DENMARK! Jens Stryger Larsen takes all three. But the Wales defence clears the danger with ease. A final rebound falls to Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg, who sends a shot well over the crossbar.
18' DENMARK CHANCE! Martin Braithwaite muscles past a couple of opposition players and gets close to goal. But he eventually fouls Wales full-back Connor Roberts and concedes a free-kick.
15' VERY CLOSE! Aaron Ramsey collects a pass and finds himself in a good position to shoot from the edge of the box, but his attempt is blocked by a Denmark defender.
12' CHANCE FOR WALES! Gareth Bale has back-to-back shots from just outside the box in the space of a minute. Both missed the target by a whisker. Wales has the possessional dominance now.
9' SHOT! Kasper Dolberg, who has replaced Yussuf Poulsen in the Denmark playing XI today, takes a shot from long. But doesn't hit the ball properly and sends it yards wide of the right post.
6' CORNER FOR WALES! Joe Allen will take this one from the right. He sends a short pass towards Daniel James, who evades past a tackle and tries to send a cross into the box. But a timely block averts the danger for Denmark.
3' EARLY CHANCE FOR DENMARK! Captain Simon Kjaer plays a long ball to his Danish teammate Mikkel Damsgaard, but the Wales defence is well organised and manages to get it clear. Positive start from Denmark.
AND THE MATCH BEGINS!
The players are out on the field.
Wales captain Gareth Bale said his team will embrace its own underdog status against Denmark, the neutrals' favourite in the last-16 of the European Championship, adding it will not underestimate Denmark's quality.
FULL STORY |
Denmark coach Kasper Hjulmand is hoping his nation's long love affair with Dutch football in general and Ajax Amsterdam in particular will stand to it when it takes on Wales in the Euro 2020 last-16 game.
READ MORE |
The team lineups are out!
WALES XI: D. Ward (G), J. Rodon, C. Roberts, B. Davies, J. Morrell, J. Allen, C. Mempham, G. Bale (C), A. Ramsey, K. Moore, D. James.
COACH - Rob Page.
DENMARK XI: K. Schmeichel (G), J. Vestergaard, J. Maehle, K. Dolberg, S. Kjaer (C), J. Stryger Larsen, P. Hojbjerg, M. Damsgaard, A. Christensen, T. Delaney, M. Braithwaite.
COACH - Kasper Hjulmand.
MATCH PREVIEW:
After three emotional European Championship matches in Copenhagen, Denmark will next play in a city that Christian Eriksen once called home.
The Danes will take on Wales in the round of 16 at the Johan Cruyff Arena on Saturday, a stadium where Eriksen is fondly remembered by Ajax fans as a stylish midfield playmaker from 2010-13 before his transfer to Tottenham.
Denmark lost its first Euro 2020 match to Finland 1-0 after Eriksen suffered a cardiac arrest on the field and had to be resuscitated with a defibrillator. The Danes also lost to Belgium before beating Russia 4-1 to finish second in Group B and advance to knockout rounds.
“I’m thinking a lot about Christian and how much I have hoped that he could experience this," Denmark coach Kasper Hjulmand said. “He has been looking forward to this summer so much, it’s a big, big dream for Christian, and just to know that he’s not here hurts.”
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While Denmark is hitting the road for the first time at a tournament that is being played in 11 cities across Europe, Wales has had a tougher travel schedule. The team-based itself in Baku, Azerbaijan, where it played its first two matches before facing Italy in Rome.
“It’s not been easy because we have had to go to Baku and then travel to Italy. We are now going to have to go to Amsterdam,” Wales coach Rob Page said. “On paper it sounds like a great idea to have it all around Europe but logistically it is an absolute nightmare, and throw COVID into that mix as well.”
Wales' victory over Turkey and a draw with Switzerland were enough for second place behind Italy in Group A. The Welsh lost 1-0 in their final match against the Italian, one of the tournament's top teams.
Now Wales is hoping it can build up the same kind of momentum that carried it to the semifinals of Euro 2016, where it lost to eventual champion Portugal 2-0.
Gareth Bale, one of the stars of the 2016 campaign, is his country’s all-time leading scorer with 33 goals, but he has not scored in his last 14 internationals and missed a penalty against Turkey in Baku.
Aaron Ramsey, another of the veterans from the tournament in France, is hoping to improve on the team's performance five years ago. “We're a threat. We keep games tight, so who knows," Ramsey said.
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"Why not go all the way again?” Wales will be without midfielder Ethan Ampadu, who is suspended after being sent off early in the second half of the team's final group match against Italy for a foul on Federico Bernardeschi.
Hjulmand said Denmark captain Simon Kjaer “got a knock in the game but he could finish it and we expect him to be ready to face Wales.” The Denmark coach said it would be tough to prepare against an unpredictable Welsh team.
“They’re very flexible. They change their strategy and their positions so it’s going to be hard to know what to expect from that team,” he said.
Players on both sides should have a good idea of what to expect from one another — Kasper Schmeichel and Danny Ward both play for Premier League club Leicester, while Ben Davies and Joe Rodon are Tottenham teammates with Denmark midfielder Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg.
Bale also played on loan for the London club last season. The winner of Saturday's match will head to Baku — where Wales is undefeated in two matches at this tournament — to face either the Netherlands or the Czech Republic in the quarterfinals on July 3.
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