Germany ruined Denmark’s new Euro fairy tale. Too many events for one match!
Anatoly Romanov June 30, 2024, 00:45 Moscow time Audio version: Your browser does not support the audio element.
Storm, offside drama and offensive penalty. The round of 16 is still fire!
The German team is the second quarterfinalist of Euro 2024. The hosts beat the Danes in the round of 16. In this match a unique event occurred.
The German national team was able to replace the entire centre of defence in the match against the Danes. Jonathan Ta was suspended and Antonio Rudiger was injured. However, the Real Madrid defender stood up and partnered Nico Schlotterbeck. An unexpected move by Julian Nagelsmann was the transfer of Florian Wirtz to the reserves. The Bayer talent made way for Leroy Zana.
The German team started the match very strongly: they played intensively, quickly and in a varied manner. The Danes tried to equalise the Germans in the centre, like the Serbians in the third round (they only had one shot on goal, although they should have won), but the first break could not withstand the pace of the home team. Nagelsmann’s team won a series of corners and won the first touch after each corner. Kroos took the ball well and Kasper Julmann’s team lost their breath, although they cannot be called inadequate. Schlotterbeck scored as early as the fourth minute, but the German team’s goal was disallowed due to a foul by Joshua Kimmich, who blocked his opponent in violation of the rules.
After surviving 20 difficult minutes, the Danish team knew how to take advantage of the fact that the Germans, after the arrhythmia of the match, took a break. Yulmann’s team had a good moment of controlling the ball, regained their breath and began to reach the rival area. The first opportunity for the Danes came from Christian Eriksen, who showed a miraculous reception of the ball after throwing it from afar. But his shot was blocked by Rüdiger, who played no less brilliantly in that episode. Then Christian took a dangerous free kick from 20 yards and hit the wall.
And in the 35th minute, referee Michael Oliver suddenly stopped the match. The reason was the weather conditions: it started to rain heavily, thunder rumbled in the sky and lightning flashed. In order not to endanger the health of the players, the English referee led the teams into the stands. A unique case for the European Championship. For almost half an hour, the teams of Germany and Denmark, and with them the wet fans, waited for the match to resume. In some places, water was pouring down from the roof of the Dortmund stadium like a waterfall.
After an unplanned pause, the Germans attacked the Danish goal again. The Scandinavians took longer to get into the game. A cross from David Raum created a great opportunity for Kai Havertz: he headed straight towards Kasper Schmeichel from a lethal position. Luckily for the Juhlmann team. After 45 minutes, the German team’s advantage in shots on goal was 5:0. However, Denmark created the best chance in the first half in stoppage time. Manuel Neuer saved the locals from the goal after a one-on-one by Rasmus Hoylund, who flew out of the goal and did not allow himself to be knocked down. Good old Manuel.
Germany – Denmark
Photo: Shaun Botterill/Getty Images
The second half also started with a disallowed goal. Now the Danes started strongly and scored from a set piece. A winning rebound and a successful rebound by Robert Andrich seemed to give defender Joakim Andersen the first goal for the Danish national team. But then something incredible happened: within just one minute, Joakim experienced a whole range of emotions! From triumph to tragedy. His goal was disallowed for his teammate being offside and in the next German attack Andersen played with his hand in his own area. Oliver whistled the penalty with the help of the VAR. Havertz executed the penalty perfectly, sending the ball just under the post.
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By losing, the Danish team opened up and the Germans got free space for counterattacks. Nagelsmann paired classic striker Niklas Füllkrug with Havertz. The German national team set up two one-on-one matches within a few minutes. If Havertz spared the Danes, Jamal Musiala did not. Schlotterbeck took a shot from his own half, goalkeeper Schmeichel took a few steps forward, but then realized he could not get there in time and retreated. Poor Andersen did not have enough speed, so no one prevented Musiala from getting to the ball and calmly taking advantage of the opportunity.
For Musiala, this is the third goal at Euro 2024: the Bayern midfielder overtook Georges Mikautadze in the list of top scorers. A great achievement, although overall the game against Denmark was not the most successful for Jamal. Before that, he had only shot incorrectly once, had not made any passes under attack, and had only completed two successful dribbles in seven attempts.
Julian Nagelsmann
Photo: Clive Mason/Getty Images
The German team won 2:0, without taking advantage of a few more chances in the end, but their game without the ball can hardly be considered ideal. Only Hoylund touched the German area seven times and fired four shots (out of a total of 11). But in some moments the Danish team lacked precision and in other episodes Neuer or, for example, Rudiger performed well. Antonio has two tackles and interceptions, four clearances and blocked shots. Playing like that against the backdrop of an injury is first class!
