Denmark expects to be outnumbered, not outplayed at Wembley
HELSINGOR, Denmark (AP) â Outnumbered in the stands, not outplayed on the field.
That is the expectation of Denmarkâs players ahead of their European Championship semifinal match against England at Wembley Stadium on Wednesday.
Entry restrictions to Britain amid the pandemic are stopping Danish fans from traveling to London from abroad to cheer on their team at English soccerâs national stadium. Only Danish people already in England, or who live in England, can buy a ticket from the countryâs allocation of about 5,800 from an expected capacity of 60,000 spectators.
Denmark midfielder Christian Norgaard is gearing up for a âhostile environmentâ at Wembley. That, though, might not be such a bad thing.
âTheyâll get wild support,â Norgaard said. âBut maybe theyâll turn on their own team if things donât go well for them.
âThere is pressure on them,â he added in Danish newspaper BT. âWe can play more freely. We have always been able to do that, but we also have expectations of ourselves. We believe we can deliver something.â
Like Norgaard, a defensive midfielder for newly promoted English team Brentford, Andreas Christensen also plays in England with Chelsea and has already been to Wembley twice this season in the FA Cup â for the team's win over Manchester City in the semifinals and a loss to Leicester in the final.
The center back knows Englandâs players well and doesnât see a massive gap between the teams.
âPlayer by player, they will probably say yes,â said Christensen, when asked if England was the favorite. âI feel like we have the qualities to play against everyone. As a team, I would not say they are that much better.â
Denmark has been struck by a groundswell of support following Christian Eriksenâs collapse in the teamâs opening group game against Finland, when he suffered cardiac arrest and had to resuscitated with a defibrillator. The way Eriksenâs teammates acted during and after the incident at Parken Stadium attracted widespread praise.
They have ridden a wave of emotion to bounce back from losing to Finland and also to Belgium in their second game to qualify from the group, and then beat Wales and the Czech Republic on the way to the semifinals.
âIt has changed a bit after how we reacted after the first match,â Christensen said. âWe have received a lot of support in England â we have been their favorite (other) team so far.
âThat has changed now that we have become their opponents. I have received many messages from people at the club (Chelsea) and also from the players. They just write that things have changed now.â
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