A masterpiece goal in the Nations League. Unprincipled Serbia will remember these “scissors” for a long time
Nikita Paglazov September 8, 2024, 21:50 Moscow time Audio version: Your browser does not support the audio element.
Poulsen’s beauty guaranteed the Danes the lead in the group with Spain.
The national teams of Denmark and Serbia had a great start in the new Nations League. The Danes defeated Switzerland at home (2-0) and the Serbians defeated European champions Spain (0-0). In the second round, the teams faced a new version of the group stage match of Euro 2024. Then the teams did not score against each other. But the final match was completely different.
The Danish national team is learning to live without Kasper Julmann, who left the team after the European Championship. However, there are no major changes in the Danes’ tactics and formations. The interim coaches Morten Wieghorst and Lars Knudsen (until the end of the year) are using all the best from their predecessors. And after the European Championship, the Serbians kept Dragan Stojkovic as coach. This is surprising. At the tournament in Germany, Serbia, with its powerful name, looked weak. Afterwards we played well against Spain, but with the Danes everything was the same again.
The teams did not create many chances in the first half. But the game looked good: there was dynamics and a desire to score (mainly from Denmark). The hosts often resorted to standard set-ups. However, Christian Eriksen’s magical passes had no effect on the Serbian defence.
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But what did Denmark do in the 36th minute! If you remember Arsenal’s goal from the last 10 years against Norwich, you will recall fond memories of the Danes’ goal. The home team made a great combination. At the end of the match, Albert Grönbeck burst into the penalty area and passed the ball to Yussuf Poulsen. He passed it back to his contact partner, and the 23-year-old Danish number nine took care of the Serbian defence, and Grönbeck hit the near corner of Predrag Rajkovic’s goal. The VAR examined the combination for possible offside, but everything turned out to be clear.
The second half bored me a bit. Denmark got the lead they needed and didn’t force the attack. Of course, there were approaches, but there was no festival of moments. What about Serbia? And Serbia seemed to lack principles. It is not clear why the country’s football leadership believes in Stojkovic. In 2024, the team won only twice: in friendly matches they defeated Cyprus (1-0) and Sweden (3-0). Everything. And in official matches the team scored only once (in five matches). Given the good selection of players, Serbia will surely play more fun. It should be noted, however, that Stojkovic is integrating new names into the team. But this is not the first day that the core squad has been called up to the national team.
Denmark – Serbia – 2:0
Photo: Ulrik Pedersen/Getty Images
Serbian strikers must have cried when Denmark scored their second goal. Because Yussuf Poulsen did what every striker dreams of. In the 61st minute, after a throw-in from the wing, he shot forward and scored a beautiful goal. The reaction of the Parken stadium during the replay is indicative: the fans exhaled synchronously and emotionally.
Denmark came to the end of the match on autopilot. Serbia distinguished itself not with its attacking play, but with its rudeness. From the 69th to the 72nd minute, the team received three yellow cards. Towards the end of the match, the Danes could have scored more. Rajkovic played unsuccessfully at the start and Jonas Wind scored in an empty net. But he hit the visiting defender Nikola Milenkovic. Another moment in the 87th minute was ruined by Patrick Dorgu: he shot over the goal from a lethal position.
Denmark secured a secure and well-deserved victory. The 2-0 is another compliment for Serbia, which seems like a lost guest in the A division of the Nations League. The leaders of Serbian football must think about the future. And the Danes are the sole leaders of Group 4 at least until mid-October.
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