Germany, Italy, France and Spain are the teams that have written their name the most times in the history of the Euro Cup. However, there are many other countries that have also had their moment of glory in the European tournament, such as Denmark. During that edition, politics was more present than ever in the competition, the circumstances of the moment were palpable on the green. Denmark was not a favorite, no one was betting on it, it arrived as the Cinderella of the tournament, given that it had not even managed to qualify, but it ended up surprising everyone by reaching the final and beating Germany. The Danes lifted the title for the first time in their history.
The year was 1992, Germany was participating in the competition for the first time after the fall of the Berlin Wall, the USSR was in the process of dismembering and Yugoslavia had been expelled due to the Balkan War. This last fact opened the doors of the Euro Cup to Denmark, which until that moment was preparing to watch the competition from home, having failed to qualify. In “injury time” he had managed to sneak into the tournament, to the disbelief of many such as the then goalkeeper Peter Schemeiche, who as soon as he heard the news said: “It has to be a joke”. And the thing is, both the goalkeeper and the rest of the squad were already on vacation.
Of course, at first the situation looked complicated for the Danes. The teams with which they shared a group complicated their hopes of progressing from the first phase: England, Sweden and France. “Go out and not make a fool of yourself” were the words that Denmark coach Richard Nielsen dedicated to his players just before they played the first match of the competition. And the truth is that they listened to him. During the opening match against England they managed to draw a goalless draw. A more than satisfactory result for the Nordics, although they showed the team’s lack of rhythm. The second match was against Sweden, a match that lived up to expectations: Denmark lost 1-0. The next match would be France. “We were already thinking about continuing with the holidays, because beating France in those conditions was impossible.”Said Brian Laudrup, Denmark striker.
And then it happened. A 180 degree turn. Neither Cantona, Jean-Pierre Papin, Deschamps and Blancwho were under the orders of Platinum, they intimidated the Danes. After 90 minutes of play, the referee blew the final whistle and certified Denmark’s first victory in the competition by 2-1. A victory that made the Danes dream and even more so after England lost to Sweden, which placed them second in the group and gave them a ticket to the next phase of the Euro Cup.
They had already come further than anyone could hope for. Getting past the group stage was already a success for them. The next meeting was before Netherlands. The orange team arrived as favorites for the match. It was known in the final before even having played the match and Denmark came to stop him. With the air of someone who knows they have won, the Dutch jumped onto the grass, but lanser They were scared after scoring two goals. The Netherlands played with the score against them almost the entire game and it was not until the 86th minute when they scored the tying goal. The penalty shootout was where the winner was decided: Denmark. The team was already in the final, just one step away from glory.
They still had one step left to win the title. They only had one team left to compete against in order to lift the Euro Cup: Germany. It was the first time that the Germans competed in the competition with a Germany reunified after the fall of the Berlin Wall. Neither of the two teams were betting favorites, but both had reached the final. However, he could only win one.
With the words of the coach who had asked them not to make fools of themselves, Denmark took the field and in the 18th minute they were already ahead on the scoreboard. Solid they held out the entire game with the same score, until in the 78th minute they saw the goal again for their peace of mind and to close the game. With this 2-0 The match was over, certifying a historic Euro Cup for Denmark. “Without a doubt, the fact that no one trusted us, not even ourselves, was what allowed us to become champions,” Schmeichel said after the tournament.
Now they will try to use heroism again to once again dress as European champions. Your starting point will be before Slovenia, against whom he is measured this Sunday. It will be the first step on your path to glory, until the grand final.
