Denmark

Coach: Morten Olsen
Region: Europe
Group E

The Danish national team, led by their former captain Morten Olsen, will be competing in their fourth World Cup in South Africa. Despite being outsiders, the 1992 European Champions had a hugely impressive qualifying campaign, topping a group containing Portugal and Sweden, losing just one game and conceding six goals in the process.

Denmark will be looking to find their way out off Group E, a group that the Netherlands must surely be hot favourites to top. The Danish will be hoping to continue their record of getting to at least the second round, a feat they have achieved in all three of their previous World Cups. This time around they will be lucky to match their best ever World Cup performance where they marched through to the quarter-final stages at France 98.

The Danish squad includes Stoke City’s Thomas Sorenson who is currently nursing a dislocated elbow and is facing a race to be fit in time for the Scandinavians’ opening game against Holland. Newcastle forward Peter Lovenkrands will not feature in South Africa after asking not to be selected following the death of his father earlier in the season.

If they are to progress to the second round they will be relying on the fire-power of veteran striker Jon Dahl Tomasson and Arsenal’s Nicklas Bendtner. Despite the Gunner often being like lambasted for his inconsistency, the target man managed goals in both legs against Portugal during qualifying and could prove the biggest threat to the Dutch defence.


Squad:

Goalkeepers: Thomas Sorensen (Stoke City), Stefan Andersen (Brondby), Jesper Christiansen (FC Copenhagen)

Defenders: Daniel Agger (Liverpool), Simon Kjaer (Palermo), Per Kroldrup (Fiorentina), Lars Jacobsen (Blackburn Rovers), Simon Busk Poulsen (AZ), William Kvist Jorgensen (FC Copenhagen), Patrick Mtiliga (Malaga)

Midfielders: Daniel Jensen (Werder Bremen), Christian Poulsen (Juventus), Christian Eriksen (Ajax), Jakob Poulsen (AGF), Martin Jorgensen (AGF), Mikkel Beckmann (Randers), Thomas Enevoldsen (Groningen), Thomas Kahlenberg (Wolfsburg), Dennis Rommedahl (Ajax), Jesper Gronkjaer (FC Copenhagen)

Forwards: Jon Dahl Tomasson (Feyenoord), Nicklas Bendtner (Arsenal), Soeren Larsen (Duisburg).

Pete Guest