The opening group match between Denmark and Tunisia ended with a 0-0 draw and a point apiece. Tunisia was satisfied with the score, but Denmark did not seem to be, and the crowd booed the game.
There is always a dark horse in the tournament, as was the case four years ago when Croatia miraculously reached the final under Luka Modric. Will there be another dark horse in Qatar? Denmark is the team most likely to be the one to pull off the miracle.
Denmark ranked 10th globally and has achieved stable results in various competitions in recent years. The core players Eriksen, Kellar, Schmeichel, and so on, have maintained a very high competitive status. The more critical team seems to be not bright enough stars, but it always has an excellent effect when combined; the taste of team football is robust.
Currently ranked 30th in the world, the North African team’s players are generally physical and play a rugged style, which is the opposite of the Danish team’s, making for an exciting clash between the two sides.
The Tunisians set the tone of the game early on with their fierce scrapping and tackles, with 14-man Danes Leduni the highlight.
The Danish team’s style of play and the team’s core, Sven Eriksson perfect match; possession of the ball to pass the kick is evident, one side is iron, and the other is feminine like water.
Statistics in the first half showed that Tunisia had only 38 percent of the ball, but they got eight shots on goal through fierce counterattacks and only one shot on target. Slow motion showed that the only shot on target was offside, but the linesman made a mistake in judgment. It seems unreasonable that Denmark had only three shots when they had 62% of the ball, but two out of three were on target.
In the second half, the two teams continued to play as one sought to control, and the other sought to hit hard.
In 65 minutes, Denmark changed three players in a row. Jensen’s appearance strengthened the Danish team’s ability to comb the ball up front, and Cornelius increased the contest in the penalty area. Denmark did not want to accept the result of the draw, but after that, the attack execution was still not committed.
Danes missed two chances in the 70th minute when substitute center-forward Konelius hit the post with a 2-meter header from Sven Eriksen’s long-range corner kick before the game ended in a 0-0 draw.
In the whole game, Denmark played with restraint, with a 62% possession rate but only 11 shots, even less than Tunisia’s 13 shots. According to various statistics, Denmark tended to overpower. Still, the play was not committed and open enough, so the fans booed all over the field 20 minutes after the game when Denmark took the ball slowly. The atmosphere was much better when Tunisia came back with the ball.