Euro 1992: Denmark's fairy tale
Participating in Euro 1992 only as a replacement team for Yugoslavia, but the "gunpowder barrel" Denmark exploded, blowing away all obstacles to win the championship. The brave lead soldiers wrote an ending more miraculous than Andersen's stories, and perhaps the biggest surprise in football history.
Euro 1992 was the last time held in the format of 8 teams participating in the finals before increasing to 16 teams in the tournament 4 years later. This was also the last Euro where the winning team got 2 points as well as the last time allowing the defender to return the ball and the goalkeeper to hold it with his hands.
A series of political upheavals and conflicts during this time period caused Yugoslavia to fragment and cease to exist as a unified country. That is the reason why the Yugoslav team, ranked first in one qualifying group, was deprived of the qualification to participate in the finals and the second-place team Denmark was chosen instead. It happened when there were only 2 weeks left before Euro 1992 opened.
Coach Richard Moeller Nielsen's students were then preparing for a friendly match with CIS (Community of Independent States of the former Soviet Union). The biggest star of the Danish team - Michael Laudrup, due to disagreements with coach Nielsen, refused to be called up to the national team, but his younger brother Brian Laudrup agreed to return, joining teammates such as Peter Schmeichel. , Lars Olssen, Kim Vilfort, Henrik Larsen…
Rated as the weakest in the group when falling into the "death" group with England (World Cup 1990 semi-finalist), France (Euro 1984 champion, considered the No. 1 candidate for the championship) and host Sweden, not many people put hope in lead soldiers. Denmark's already slim chances became even slimmer after the opening match drew 0-0 with England and lost 0-1 in the next match with Sweden.
After finishing bottom of the group in the first two matches, Denmark played the decisive match against France and unexpectedly won with goals from Henrik Larsen and substitute Lars Elstrup. "Golden Ball 1991" Jean-Pierre Papin only had time to score an honorable goal for "Les Bleus".
In the semi-finals, the defending champion Netherlands with the legendary trio Van Basten - Gullit - Rijkaard and a group of other good players played very subjectively against Denmark and they paid a heavy price. Denmark suddenly took the lead with a goal from Henrik Larsen in the 5th minute before Dennis Bergkamp leveled the score 15 minutes later for the Netherlands. 10 minutes later, Larsen scored again from close range, after a messy fight for the ball in front of goal, re-establishing Denmark's lead. 4 minutes before time expired, Rijkaard coordinated with Gullit and scored to equalize 2-2. Entering extra time, Peter Schmeichel, who later became one of the best goalkeepers in the world, frustrated every Dutch striker, especially Bryan Roy's close finish. A defeat can be predicted for the team from the land of tulips when the penalty shootout takes place. Among the 10 players of the two teams responsible for carrying out the heavy mission from the 11m mark, only Van Basten let Schmeichel block it. Defender Kim Christofte made the decisive shot, sending Denmark to the final of a major tournament for the first time.
Defending 1990 World Cup champion Germany was Denmark's opponent in the final. In the first 15 minutes, coach Berti Vogts' team appeared completely overwhelmed with continuous shots from Riedle, Stefan Reuter and Guido Buchwald. But the Danish players did not suffer any psychological pressure and played more effectively. In the 18th minute, Kim Vilfort fought for the ball with Andreas Brehme, hitting Flemming Polvsen's heel. The ball was released back to John Jensen and the shot from the edge of the 16m50 line did not give goalkeeper Bodo Illgner a chance to block it. In the 78th minute, Vilfort kicked Illgner's goal to put Denmark up 2-0. Although it appeared Vilfort let the ball touch his hand before shooting, the referee recognized the goal anyway. As a result, Denmark defeated the German team and won the championship. It seemed that fate was completely in favor of the Danish soldiers.
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