England will, tonight, take on Denmark in the second match of the Euro 2020 semi-finals, less than a year after the Danes recorded their first competitive victory at Wembley since 1983, with the vision that Wembley home advantage will count in their favour.
The question remains, either side, will football witness another close-to-home movement or will the Danish resurgence sweep away the English defensive Gibraltar?
Having wiped away Ukraine in a 4-0 rout in the quarter final, the Three Lions come into the game with lots of confidence against the backdrop, also, that they have not conceded since the start of the tournament. This is a confidence consolidated by the fact that, obviously, they are excellent both ends going into this match. With key players like Harry Kane rested when victory was assured against Ukraine, England will come energized. They will also bask on the unused energies and talents of impact player, Jack Grealish, who comes in as a fringe substitute to change the entire gamut of a game.
Denmark, still rejuvenated by the survival of their inspirational midfield maestro, Christian Eriksen, has proven to be spoilers for some top teams in the tournament, boasting of a very resilient defence that concedes less than it scores. Coming off a slow start due, most probably to the collapse of Eriksen in their first match against Finland, the Danes have progressed with every match defeating Wales and Czech Republic in the Round of 16 and the Quarter Final respectively. At this point, they can no longer be considered outsiders but serious contenders for the trophy.
Let us look at the likely departments where this game may be decided.
Harry Kane vs Simon Kjær
Harry Kane grew into the tournament with each passing game. He was very silent early on with barely two touches in the opposition’s box in their first match against Croatia. He, however, ended the drought against Die Mannschaft and took over his ruthless self against the Blue and Yellow to prove himself one of the best positional strikers with power-packed shots to threaten opposition’s critical square.
This will be a very busy night for Simon Kjaer given the array of strikers and scoring midfielders in the English squad and Kane’s scoring renewal. But Kjaer is not new to hyped opposition as he has toned down the onslaughts from Belgian hitman, Romelu Lukaku and Russian hope, Artem Dzyuba. Inasmuch as Kane is different from these two with his knack for choosing best positions, Kjaer would need to come to the party with his ‘digital’ thinking cap to make those spit-second reactions and decisions that matter.
Jordan Pickford vs Kasper Dolberg
On the average, the English defence has only allowed strikers just two attempts on goal per match throughout the tournament, all with negative outcomes as Jordan Pickford has neutralized those threats. With his decision to see a sports psychologist in the past season with Everton, the results have translated to a calculated composure, leadership of the back line and some maturity in his reactions. This has shown in his record of 5 clean sheets in the last 7 matches for the Three Lions meaning that since November 15, 2020, he has not let in any goal.
Kasper ‘Iceman’ Dolberg, cool in the midst of match tensions, has taken good advantage of replacing injured Yussuf Poulsen in the match against Wales where he scored twice to help qualify Denmark for the quarter final. Dolberg has the chance to nullify Pickford’s intention of creating more records of probably being the first keeper not to have conceded throughout a Euro Championship. Two ambitions are opposing each other here as Pickford would want to halt Denmark remarkable progress to the final if he could keep out Dolberg and his teammates.
Luke Shaw vs Joakim Maehle
His incursions down the left flank have made Luke Shaw one of the sure bets in an English squad today having made his debut in 2014. With his pace and evasive moves, he has always created attacking potentials for the Three Lions and tees up well with strikers especially Raheem Sterling to cause havoc for opponents’ defences. He Has provided three assists in this tournament (one against Germany and two against Ukraine) to equal David Beckham’s 2000 record in one Euro championship.
Not directly facing Shaw, Joakim Maehle is one of the few outfield players to have engaged in every second of this tournament. He has scored two and provided one assist to aid Denmark to be where they are today in the tournament. His incisive runs is a scare to right-backs who would be on the alert in order not to be cut on flat-feet while he exchanges with midfielders and strikers.
Both teams’ defences have an uphill task to curtail the excesses of these two players as the most successful of both left-backs might have the last laugh tonight.
Azuka Edokobi is a Writer , a Farmer, a Supply Chain Expert and an Entrepreneur
