Euro 2022: A guide to the Denmark team
- Published
Euro 2022 is taking place at 10 venues across England between 6-31 July. Denmark are in Group B, along with Germany, Spain and Finland. Arnela Muminovic, sport journalist and football commentator at Danish broadcaster DR Sporten, assesses their chances this summer.
How will Denmark do?
Expectations this year are not as great as they should be because the group is really hard. The Danish national team have had a very good period the last two years and they have a lot of self belief so expectations within the camp itself may be bigger than in the country.
One of their strengths is the togetherness in the group - they talk a lot about their togetherness. They really like each other, both on and off the field.
It's a group that have been playing together for some time so they know each other - there are a lot of players in this group who played the Euro final in 2017. They know what to do when they get to a tournament. However, besides Chelsea star Pernille Harder, there aren't many players who can make an impact on their own. They lack players at her level.
In common with a lot of other people, I am just looking forward to seeing Denmark at an international tournament again because they didn't qualify for the World Cup in 2019. After a pay dispute with the Danish FA, they didn't play a crucial World Cup qualifier to Sweden,, external who were awarded the victory and won the group.
Who is the manager?
It is the first time Lars Sondergaard has managed a women's team and there were some obstacles at the start where he had to learn how to be a women's coach.
He had been coaching for many years in Denmark's top league. When he joined the team the media talked about how it was a scoop for the national team. He has grown into the role and is developing as a coach as well. It's really important for him to do a good job at the tournament in England.
The style of play is technical, modern football. The coach wants to play with intensity, to press high and to play fast - he wants them to do something with the ball when they have it. For me, it is a very entertaining style of play.
Who is the star player?
Pernille Harder helped Chelsea win a league and cup double last season
No doubt about that, it's Pernille Harder, 29. She has been in the national team for 14 years - she made her debut aged 16. She is just a world-class player.
She has been injured a bit over the last half year and is so happy to be back with the national team. This break has done some good things for her, she said to me at their training camp that she is falling in love with football again because she's appreciating it even more now.
She is just so, so good. She can do things on her own, she's so intelligent, with or without the ball. The level of the other players gets much higher when she's on the pitch. She also makes room for other players because she always attracts a lot of players when she has the ball.
She has to play well if they are going to get through the group.
Who is the rising star?
Kathrine Kuhl, 18, a central midfielder from Nordsjaelland - she is the one people are talking about in Denmark as one of the next big stars of the national team. She has already won a starting place in central midfield so is already making a name for herself but this could be her breakthrough tournament. Even though she is very young, she has a lot of self-belief.
She's from the new school of women's football - with that I mean the girls in Denmark are training a lot more than they were five or 10 years ago. You can see that in Kuhl - she has a very good technical level and she is not afraid of making the difficult passes. She can unlock things in midfield.
Euros record | |
|---|---|
Previous tournaments | Nine |
Best result | Runners-up - 2017 |
Squad list
Goalkeepers: Lene Christensen (Rosenborg), Laura Nielsen (Odense Q), Katrine Svane (AGF).
Defenders: Simone Boye Sorensen (Arsenal), Luna Gevitz (Hacken), Sara Holmgaard (Turbine Potsdam), Stine Ballisager Pedersen (Valerenga), Rikke Sevecke (Everton), Sara Thrige (Inter Milan), Katrine Veje (Rosengard).
Midfielders: Sofie Svava (Real Madrid), Kathrine Kuhl (Nordsjaelland), Janni Thomsen (Valerenga), Karen Holmgaard (Turbine Potsdam), Sanne Troelsgaard Nielsen (Reading), Sofie Bredgaard (Rosengard), Sofie Junge Pedersen (Juventus).
Forwards: Signe Bruun (Lyon), Mille Gejl (Hacken), Pernille Harder (Chelsea), Stine Larsen (Hacken), Nadia Nadim (Racing Louisville), Rikke Marie Madsen (Madrid CFF).