12 internationals in action
12 Copenhagen-players were in action during the last two weeks, and two more sat on the bench without getting the opportunity to fight for their country at this occasion.
Denmark
As expected Lars Jacobsen and Michael Gravgaard was in the starting line up for Denmark against Northern Ireland and Liechtenstein, but it was not part of the plan that keeper Jesper Christiansen had to come into action. Saturday night he had to pull on his gloves, when Thomas Sørensen injured his shoulder. Both keepers were satisfied with a clean sheet, but disappointed to see another clean sheet at the other end of the field. The injury will unfortunately keep the Aston Villa-keeper sidelined for a while, and consequently Jesper Christiansen was first-choice against Liechtenstein on Wednesday, when the Danes won comfortably with 4-0 in Vaduz.
One of the goals came from Michael Gravgaard, his fourth goal in the eleven games he has played since his international debut against England a year ago. After half an hour he found empty space in the penalty area, and when the cross came in from the left he leaned forward and sent a bullet header past the keeper.
Lars Jacobsen was also involved in a goal, when he served Jon Dahl Thomasson with a perfect cross, which the Stuttgart-striker hammered home with a spectacular overhead-kick.
Denmark U21
Midfielders William Kvist and Martin Bergvold were in the starting line up, when the Danish U21-team impressed with a 2-1-win in a friendly in Enschede against the European Champions from Netherland. Bergvold was substituted after an hour, but Kvist played the whole game and brilliantly set up the winning goal for Odense-winger Jonas Borring. After losing the decisive qualifier at home to Sweden some month ago, Denmark will not go to Netherland again next summer, when the Dutch will host the U21-Euro Championship.
Denmark U20
Two talented Copenhagen youngsters, Nikolaj Hansen and Lasse Qvist, were in the U20-squad for a friendly against Norway, who won 3-1 a few miles down the road from Kronborg Castle in Helsingør. Hansen - who can play both full back and centre back and also on the defensive midfield - played all 90 minutes, while striker Qvist stayed on the bench.
Sweden
Tobias Linderoth and Marcus Allbäck played major roles when Sweden defeated Spain 2-0 in the same Euro 2008-group as Denmark, Northern Ireland and Liechtenstein. Linderoth, as usual, was the non-stop-working engine in the Swedish midfield, and Allbäck crowned his performance with the second goal of the game. While the guests pressed on for the equaliser, he finished a counterattack by clinically sending the ball in the empty net after he had send a defender and the keeper sliding desperately on the grass. Linderoth actually started the counterattack by clearing the ball on the very goalline after a Spanish corner!
On Wednesday the Swedes had to play Iceland in Reykjavik without Linderoth, who had returned to Copenhagen in order to be at the right place at the right time, when he is becoming a father one of these days. Allbäck played the first 80 minutes, and even though he didn’t find the net this time, the Swedes secured a narrow 2-1-win to stay top of the table with maximum points after 4 games. Fredrik Berglund was part of the squad, but was left on the stands for the Spain-game. In Reykjavik he made it to the bench without coming into action.
Sweden U21
Having earlier defeated Denmark and Bosnia-Hercegovina, Oscar Wendt and Sweden faced Serbia in two play off-games, and when they travelled back from the first game in Serbia with a solid 3-0-win, they had almost booked the trip and the hotel for next years Euro Championship in Netherland. But amazingly, they crashed 0-5 at home after trailing 0-3 at half time in a very rare “turn-around” at international level.
Norway
Brede Hangeland and Norway lost their first points in their Euro2008-group, when they were defeated 1-0 by Greece on a very rainy Saturday night in Athens. Actually the game had to be delayed several times, before the players could enter the pitch, which of course was soaking wet. Perhaps the weather conditions was an advantage for the Norwegians, who played a good game and deserved a point – which they might have had, if it hadn’t been for a very dubious offside-decision 15 minutes before the final whistle, which left the Norwegians very furious and frustrated.
Ghana
Razak Pimpong travelled to the Far East to play friendlies against Japan in Tokyo and South Africa in Seoul. Ghana gathered confidence by winning 1-0 and 3-1, and Pimpong came in from the bench in both games, and he set up the winning goal in Tokyo after a good move in the right side.
Canada
While ”Pim” went east, Atiba Hutchinson and Canada flew to Kingston, Jamaica, and – unbeaten in the last four games - they still seemed to be flying, when the game kicked off and they took the lead after only 8 minutes. But Hutch and his teammates eventually hit the ground, when the Jamaicans turned the game and scored twice. “Hutch” played all 90 minutes and gave several proves on his skills, but in the end it was not enough to prevent a 1-2-defeat.
