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The all-time World Cup




April 5th 2005
Buenos Aires, Estadio Monumental
DENMARK - ENGLAND
1-1 (1-0)

      GOALS                   17'  1-0  Brian Laudrup
                              80'  1-1  Bobby Charlton

      REFEREE                 Nikolai Latichev (Sovietunion)

      ATTENDANCE              77,000

      YELLOW CARDS            Lerby, Olsen (DEN) - Edwards, Adams (ENG)




      DENMARK (Coach: Sepp Piontek, system 4-3-3)

       1 Peter Schmeichel
       2 Ole Rasmussen
       3 Ivan Nielsen
       4 Morten Olsen (captain)
      17 Jan Heintze
       8 Michael Laudrup
       5 Nils Middelboe
       6 Sören Lerby
      11 Preben Elkjaer-Larsen
       7 Pauli Jörgensen             (-57)
      20 Brian Laudrup               (-76)

      Substitutes:
       9 Poul Nielsen                (+57)
      15 Frank Arnesen               (+76)



      ENGLAND (Coach: Alf Ramsey, system 4-4-2)
      
       1 Gordon Banks
       2 Bob Crompton
       5 Tony Adams
       6 Bobby Moore (captain)
      18 Eddie Hapgood
       7 Stanley Matthews
       4 Ernest Needham              (-46)
       8 Duncan Edwards
      10 Bobby Charlton              (-84)
       9 Gary Lineker
      20 Steve Bloomer               (-89)

      Substitutes:
      14 Tom Lawton                  (+46)
      15 Tom Finney                  (+84)
      13 Cliff Bastin                (+89)


MATCHREPORT


    With hindsight many seemed to realize that England must have had underestimated the Danes. Compared to the match against Austria, this England team had been unrecognizable in the beginning of the match. No precision in the passing and in midfield they lost many balls to the much more fierce Danish players. Denmark played straight from the shoulder, without fear and when they opened the score this was nothing more than deserved. They had gone close twice, when Elkjaer-Larsen shot just wide and when Banks tipped a bullet from Nils Middelboe over the bar. A Danish goal was never far away and it came in the 17th minute. It was a moment in which the English defence was torn apart. Lerby on the left broke through, Crompton should have come to the rescue with a sliding tackle but he didn't. When the cross came, Hapgood forgot to interfere and Brian Laudrup came in to score: 1-0. Banks had no chance. Denmark hadn't come to Buenos Aires just to get eliminated. England knew they had something to do.

    Alf Ramsey had decided to leave his two slightly injured players, Bryan Robson and Roger Byrne, out of the team. Hapgood played leftback now and Ernest Needham came in the team as a defensive midfielder allowing Duncan Edwards to support the attack. Ramsey had another surprise in store. This time Steve Bloomer got his chance alongside Gary Lineker up front and Tommy Lawton had to stay on the bench. Danish coach Piontek had made some changes too from the first match. He replaced John Sivebaek with Ole Rasmussen and Frank Arnesen and Poul Nielsen were also left out. Michael Laudrup played in midfield now and Pauli Jörgensen and Brian Laudrup had the opportunity to revive Denmark. At first Piontek's ideas paid off more than Ramsey's.

    When the first half got on, England tried to find the attack, mostly through actions from Stanley Matthews. But the Sir had a very tough opponent in Jan Heintze who was not the kind to bow his head very quickly. The number of times that Matthews could really create danger, was pretty small. More danger came from Duncan Edwards, a player with just as much stamina as Lerby but even more footballing options under his belt. He found his teammates with superb passes and his shots were more and more dangerous for Peter Schmeichel. After half an hour, England really put on the thumb-screws to Denmark. Lerby reacted with a quite heavy foul on Charlton, referee Latichev showed the yellow card. Edwards shot the free kick in the wall, Bloomer had the chance but Nielsen threw himself in the way. Moments later a fine cross from Matthews almost found Lineker, but the centre forward just couldn't reach it completely and Schmeichel could pick up the ball easily.

    Alf Ramsey had concluded that his best chances were on the flanks and that he needed a big centre forward capable of scoring with a header. He needed Lawton. He didn't take off Lineker or Lawton, but Ernest Needham had to stay in the dressing room. Needham had been no big factor in the first half, losing too many balls and winning little back. With Lawton in the team England got more bite, an extra weapon. Until that moment Nielsen had been the dominator in the air, he now got competition. Bloomer now came more from the left, Charlton more from midfield together with Edwards. And chances came, but not only for England. Elkjaer-Larsen could have given England the deathblow when he broke through, but Banks had left his goalline and kicked the ball away in time. Three minutes later Jörgensen had the decision on his foot but from 8 metres out he missed the goal completely. That saved the day for England. On the other end Lawton got the opportunity to equalize being provided with the perfect cross by Lineker. Heintze deflected the shot, Schmeichel somehow got a hand to it. All that was left for England was a corner kick.

    But just when Denmark with Arnesen instead of Brian Laudrup had brought an extra midfielder and they seemed to withdrew from the English pressure, the equalizer fell as yet. It was Bobby Charlton who got the ball in midfield, played a fine 1-2 combination with Edwards and shot it, unstoppable for Schmeichel, in the upper corner: 1-1 after 80 minutes. All in all, after trying so many times without success, they had deserved it and the 1-1 was a correct score. England tried to decide the match in their favour now. Charlton was substituted and Finney came in, even Bastin came in the 89th minute instead of Bloomer. It didn't produce more opportunities. The match ended 1-1, Denmark had played well and had had the chance to decide the match early. But England had recovered and it remained to be seen what would have happened had they started the match the way they ended it.

    The draw left everything open in this group. England, with a home match against Sweden coming up, would only need a draw to be sure of qualifying. Denmark would need win against Austria to have at least a chance, but would still be dependent on the England-Sweden result. Both games would be played simultaneously, in London and the Stadio Nazionale in Rome.

    Next Friday we'll have the last match in the second round of the groupstage. In Saint Denis, suburb of Paris, Argentina and Turkey meet in a match that Turkey simply must win. But how do you win against a team with Passarella, Maradona and Di Stefano? Turkey coach Denizli must come up with a special idea to have his own players believe in it. Cesar Menotti may trust the same 11 men he fielded against Switzerland. Argentina are full of selfconfidence, if they win they can play the match against Germany in their own Buenos Aires without pressure. Sergio Gonella will lead the match, a man Argentina know very well from the World Cup final 1978.




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