Denmark stormed into the quarter-finals exactly 29 years after the European Championship triumph of its legendary Danish Dynamite team and remains a popular figure for the tournament. Coach Kasper Hjulmand’s team celebrated an undisputed 4-0 (1-0) win against Wales in the first knockout game of the European Football Championship on Saturday. Former Ajax professional Kasper Dolberg (27th and 48th minutes), Joakim Maehle (88th) and Martin Braithwhite (90th + 6th) met in Amsterdam. The Scandinavians are now demanding the winner of the Netherlands-Czech Republic on Saturday in Baku. For the weak Welshmen around Gareth Bale, who lost Harry Wilson to a red card shortly before the end, the European Championship trip ended in frustration. They were miles away from a coup like the sensational semi-finals in 2016.
16,000 spectators were admitted to the game and turned the Amsterdam Arena into a home game for the Danes. For the Scandinavians it did not matter that they were not allowed to compete in Copenhagen for the first time. All day long, her fans in the canal city had created a lively atmosphere. “We are playing in Christian Eriksen’s old home and we will give everything,” announced Hjulmand. Eriksen moved to Ajax Amsterdam in 2008, when he was 16 at the time, and started his great career there. In the European Championship opening game of the Danes, the captain collapsed and had to be resuscitated. The Welsh people sent their wishes for wellbeing by showing a framed jersey with the opponent’s number 10 on it on the lawn.
When the Berlin referee Daniel Siebert kicked off the first knockout game of the EM, Yussuf Poulsen was sitting outside in a suit and white shirt: The striker from Bundesliga club RB Leipzig had to pass at short notice due to injury – but had a strong representative in Dolberg from OGC Nice. The Welsh striker Bale caused the first excitement among the initially somewhat tense Danes when he put the ball past the left post (10th). The 31-year-old from Tottenham Hotspur repeatedly made steam on the right, but could not end his goal doldrums in the 15th international match in a row.
“We are ready for the fight because it will be a fight,” said Wales coach Rob Page. His professionals did not want to let the passion of their opponents get them down, as Russia did recently, but had too little to offer up front.
Bale’s club colleague Pierre-Emile Höjbjerg and Thomas Delaney from Borussia Dortmund tried to structure their team’s game. It only got visibly better when Andreas Christensen moved into midfield. After fine preparatory work by Mikkel Damsgaard, Dolberg pulled away from the edge of the penalty area and hit the right corner with precision.
Almost immediately after the restart, Bale and Co. suffered the next setback. Substitute Neco Williams slammed the ball right in front of Dolberg’s feet in a defensive attempt, and the Danish attacker hit from six meters. A harmless header from Bale and a violent shot by Daniel James blocked by Christensen – those were the only noteworthy offensive actions of the increasingly desperate Welsh. Maehle then made everything clear with a shot in the corner to make it 3-0.