Camp Focus - Denmark– Bordinggaard’s side look to get back on track against Belarus
After a crushing opening night defeat against Switzerland and their prolific striker Xherdan Shaqiri, Danish coach Keld Bordinggaard will look to his star man Christian Eriksen to lead his side into the battle against the Belarussians on Tuesday with Belarus buoyed by their victory over Iceland in the first game. Danish playmaker Eriksen failed to live up to expectations against a resolute Switzerland defence and will be expected to raise his game considerably to propel Denmark into a more favourable position.
The Danes could go out of the tournament on Tuesday if they get beaten by Belarus and Switzerland win against Iceland, but Bordinggaard is not prepared to look that far and is more concerned with picking up three points in Aarhus against Belarus. The Danish coach stated : “There’s still a lot of football to be played in the tournament for us, that’s our genuine feeling, and I can see that the players feel that as well.”
Towards the end of the game against Switzerland, Denmark started to break down the opposition defence and create chances, putting the ball in the net in the final minute through striker Nickie Billie Neilsen only for it to be correctly adjudged offside. Bordinggaard has the confidence in his side to create chances and if Ajax playmaker Eriksen steps up his levels of performance, Denmark should be able to create more opportunities from the outset of the contest.
Bordinggaard said: “The production of chances, the quality of the chances. I can’t remember us creating so many chances in any of our preparation games.” The Danes had ten shots on target as opposed to their Swiss opponents’ total of three, but they failed to capitalise and were inevitably punished by Shaqiri’s moment of brilliance.
For Denmark to be productive in the Belarus game, they will have to start quicker and with a faster pace than they did against the Swiss. Denmark were slow out of the gates and even coach Bordinggaard has recognised his side’s lack of tempo, calling for them to raise their levels in the next match. Denmark also will need more luck than they received in the Switzerland game. Switzerland goalkeeper Yann Sommer was in inspired form against the Danes and Bordinggaard’s forwards will hope that the chances they create will lead to goals to propel Denmark to victory.
Denmark defender Mathias ‘Zanka’ Jorgensen has called for his side to produce a better performance and gain points from the game in front of a rabid Danish support. The 21 year old Copenhagen central defender stated: “We felt like we had the whole of Denmark behind us and now we think we have to repay them with a good performance and some points. Let’s hope that’s going to happen.” Zanka has also reiterated the supporters’ wishes of seeing more creative players on the ball and has encouraged forward players Christian Eriksen and Nickie Billie Neilsen to get themselves involved more in Denmark’s attacking game.
Confidence is still at a high in the Denmark camp and they are planning to use the good chances they created and the dominance they held over Switzerland to good effect in the Belarus game, which will be make or break for the host nation’s chances of progression to the semi-finals.
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