Denmark has always proven to be a hard-working, intensely-physical team with plenty of talent and a bit of flair. Aside from their win of the 1992 Euro, Denmark is a relatively light-weight team when it comes to the World Cup. Their best result was a berth in the quarterfinals of 1998. Their first appearance in the finals was in 1986.
France '98 is where our story starts. This was the team of Michael Laudrup, arguably the best Danish player in history, along with his brother Brian and the imposing Peter Schmeichel as the net-minder. Denmark was placed in the group with host-nation France, Saudi Arabia and South Africa. After defeating the Saudis, they went on to tie South Africa before losing to France. They would meet the Nigerian Supereagles in the round of 16. Although the African side was heavily favored, the Danish put on an impressive performance reminiscent of their '92 Euro run. They would defeat Nigeria by 4-1. Brazil would be their next opponent. After going up on the scoreboard twice, Rivaldo showed his magic and booted them off the tournament. It was quite a match with up-and-downs and plenty of cheers for the Europeans. Brazil were still favored to win it all at that point.
Denmark would once again qualify for the World Cup in 2002, reaching the round of 16. This was quite a tournament for them since they would play a part in the early elimination of then-champions France. A win versus Uruguay and a tie against Senegal meant they had 4 points ahead of their game with the French. Zidane had been absent until this game due to injury. His late arrival would not amount to much, as goals by Rommedahl and Tommasson were enough to win the group. Their joy would be short-lived, as they would face David Beckham's England. The "three lions" quickly demolished them by 3-0.
What's next for Denmark? Holland, Japan and Cameroon. Aside from the Netherlands, Denmark is equally matched with the Asian and African sides. Indeed, seeing recent results makes us believe that Japan is the weaker side here and that Cameroon isn't the indomitable team it once was. Look out for stars like Sorensen (Stoke City), Jacobsen (Blackburn), Poulsen (Juventus), and Bendtner (Arsenal).
For such a small country, the Netherlands sure packs a superb punch. Maybe this is why their nickname is the "Clockwork Orange" or "Naranja Mecanica." Twice runners up in the 1970s with losses to Gerd Muller's West Germany in Germany 1974 and to Mario Kempes' Argentina in Argentina 1978.
Indeed, the 1970s marked the start of "total football," first pioneered by Ajax's Johan Cruyff and head coach Rinus Michaels. Out of that came a fast-paced, box-to-box style that overwhelmed opposing sides when the entire team surged forward in attack. Out of this controlled madness came players like Marco Van Basten, Ruud Gullit, Ronald Koeman, Frank Rijkaard, Denis Bergkamp, Patrick Kluivert, Edgar Davids and Clarence Seedorf.
Our story here begins with Italia 1990. Those were the days of Ruud Gullit, Van Basten and Ronald Koeman. Having won the 1988 Euros, Holland was riding high and ready to win its first World Cup. To my untrained eyes, Gullit was the Dutch sensation. "Did you know he scored a goal with his chest?" someone uttered once in a lunch break soccer scrimmage. We watched the team stumble into the round of 16 after tying three games (England, Ireland, Egypt), and without a single goal from maestro van Basten. There, they met eventual-champions West Germany. The game was gritty, dirty Euro-style football. Germany won thanks to Klinsmann and Brehme. Koeman would score a consolation penalty in the 89th. This match also had a bit of controversy with a spitting incident between Rijkaard and Voller.
In USA 1994, The Netherlands was considered a contender once more. They would have to do without Gullit (on strike) and van Basten (injury). Bergkamp would step up and deliver a masterful performance with 3 goals that took them all the way to the quarterfinals. They would first face an interesting group stage: Belgium, Saudi Arabia, Morocco. This was quite an interesting group. Belgium, Holland and Saudi Arabia all got 6 points (2 wins) and same goal differential. The Dutch would defeat both the Saudis and Morrocans but would fall short against Belgium. Bergkamp and Jonk would both score versus Ireland in the second round. Their final match in 1994 came against eventual-champions Brazil. It was probably the best match of the tournament. Twice Brazil scored through Romario and Bebeto, only to be followed by strikes from Bergkamp and Winter. A long-range free kick from Branco sealed he 3-2 scoreline in favor of the Amazonians.
France 1998 came around and Holland was again a contender. Now they had players like the De Boer brothers, Cocu and Overmars. They faced Belgium in the opening match (0-0 draw). Their second game was a scintillating performance against a limited South Korean team (5-0). Feisty Mexico put up a fight and "El Matador" Hernandez tied the game 2-2 in extra time. A match against Yugoslavia awaited them in the round of 16. It would take an injury time goal from Edgar Davids to defeat the Balkan squad. What followed was perhaps one of the best matches of '98: Netherlands - Argentina. Kluivert opened the score and the Argentineans would tie the game thanks to "El Piojo" Lopez. An ill-timed ejection of Ortega, coupled with a wonder goal from Bergkamp, sent the Dutch to the semifinals. A re-match of the '94 quarterfinal versus Brazil would follow. Scores by Ronaldo and Kluivert meant the game would go to penalties. Brazil would win it once again thanks to misses by Cocu and Ronald de Boer. Holland would settle for 4th place after a loss to Davor Suker's Croatia.
Much to the surprise of the entire footballing world, Netherlands failed to qualify for 2002. The Dutch were placed in the group of death in Germany '06: Argentina, Cote D'Ivoire and Serbia & Montenegro were the opponents. They defeated Serbia in the first game. The second game, against fellow orange-wearing Ivory Coast was a memorable experience for me. I happened to be in Amsterdam for the match and saw a sea of orange everywhere I walked. That evening, I got me a cheap knock-off van Nistelroy shirt and wore it to a packed restaurant to watch the match. Holland would prevail 2-1. They would subsequently tie Argentina 0-0. The Netherlands were eventually booted off the tournament by Cristiano Ronaldo's Portugal in the round of 16.
What's next for the Netherlands? Familiar foes Denmark, dangerous Cameroon and tricky Japan. Expect them to breeze through the group stage. Some stars to watch include Heitinga (Everton), van Bronckhorst (Feyenoord), Sneijder (Inter), van der Vaart (Real Madrid), Kuyt (Liverpool), van Persie (Arsenal), Robben (Bayern Munich).
This was a chance for newcomers to shine. It was a chance to prove the US can do it without Dempsey, Donovan and Howard. It was a chance to see how the US might do in a tough World Cup group. They failed. No one served the attackers. The defenders were overrun and got no help from midfield.
What do we make of this? Clearly, Donovan's presence is key to the US attack and drive as a whole. Onyewu's absence in the back line was flagrantly obvious, along with Bocanegra's mishaps. DeMerrit, Goodson, Marshall and Conrad are all good options, with DeMerrit being at the top of the list. Unfortunately, Goodson-Conrad, Bocanegra-Spector did not work today. Spector was miserable as a center back, even though he is occasionally played there in his club team, West Ham.
On the flanks, Bornstein had a quiet day but let a few balls slip through. Hejduk was a trooper and played with his trademark spunk, but Cherundolo and Spector remain better options at that position. Castillo was not used as a left back, from what I could tell and failed to impress.
The attack was quiet with a seemingly out-of-shape Altidore and with Cunningham and later Johnson lacking enough service to be dangerous. This was ultimately the problem... The midfield. Holden was exceedingly out-of-pace with the rest of the game, Bradley was caught ball-watching and Clark didn't contribute enough defensively. This was the major cause for the collapse at the start of the second half with three unanswered Danish goals. The defense needed more numbers in the back and the defensive midfielders were caught ball-watching.
Some positives include Feilhaber's resilience and Cunningham's opportunistic chance. I'm not sure if Castillo will be called up again, maybe for another friendly, maybe not. Donovan and Dempsey are clearly the aces in this team. It's hard to see the US faring well without them. Another point is Altidore's companion up top. Davies' speed is missing right now and the only other dominant player that can do this is Donovan. But who would be the creative force without Donovan in the midfield? These are questions that need to be mauled over by the coaching staff and the players themselves. There's not much time left until the World Cup and there are only a handful of FIFA dates to work with next year ahead of the competition. Indeed, it's crunch time.
Yesterday I had the pleasure of experiencing a full world cup qualifying day with a great Bosnian friend of mine. Our prerogative was, of course, the playoff between Bosnia and Portugal played at the Stadium of Light in Lisbon. The home team came away with a victory of 1-0 in a game that could easily have gone Bosnia's way with three (yes, three) shots hitting the post. Dzeko was a threat in the area but Bosnia's chances came only in spurts as the hosts put continuous pressure on the visiting team. Return leg is on Wednesday at Zenica in Bosnia. An upset by the Balkan team could effectively push Cristiano Ronaldo's team out of South Africa. That would add another superstar's absence from to next year's tournament after Ibrahimovic's Sweden was eliminated.
Elsewhere in football yesterday was France's win in Ireland thanks to a Nicolas Anelka goal in Dublin. The bleus are now one foot away from South Africa. It was a scorcher between Russia and Slovenia. Russia deserved more, but Slovenia got an away goal late in the game that will prove crucial during Wednesday's return match in the former Yugoslav republic. Arshavin and Pavlichenko's play, along with Bilyaletdinov's brilliant strikes highlighted a young Russian side with great prospects for the future... if they are able to advance after Wednesday's game. Ukraine and Greece tied 0-0 in Athens. Donetsk will be a tough, cold venue for the Greeks in the return leg.
But the playoffs in Europe weren't the only qualifiers yesterday. Egypt forced a playoff in neutral ground against Algeria after a 95th minute goal earned them a 2-0 victory that tied their North African neighbors in points and goal differential. Nigeria and Cameroon also returned to the World Cup after their absence in 2006. Oceania finally has a team other than Australia (now in the AFC) earning a spot in the World Cup after New Zealand posted a 1-0 victory over AFC's Bahrain. Finally, another inter-conference playoff between Concacaf and Conmebol ended in a 1-0 victory for Uruguay in Costa Rican soil. The two-time world champs are now poised for another appearance in FIFA's most important tournament.
The fun doesn't stop there. Because this was an official FIFA date (meaning all club teams are required to cede their players for international matchups), high profile friendlies could be played. A depleted England fell to Brazil in Quatar whilst Spain beat out Maradona's Argentina. The US also had a friendly in Bratislava against a limited Slovakia side that was content with a 1-0 margin attained through a questionable penalty. Cunningham and Dax McCarty made the squad but didn't factor much. Wednesday brings a more intriguing game against Denmark on Danish soil. Edgar Castillo will feature for the Americans, as will Torres, Holden and Clark. Dempsey, Cherundolo, and Marshall have been released from camp.
Wednesday should be another great day for international futbol. Much is still at stake and all will be resolved ahead of next month's World Cup draw.
Whether just playing friendlies during the winter break (northern parts of Scandinavia lose sunlight completely) or sharing players, Scandinavian countries have become intimately tied to American soccer. Yesterday's friendly at Los Angeles' HDC between the US and Sweden proved to be an important test for the youngsters and some of the veterans from both domestic leagues. Sacha Kljestan showed how he's one of the top players in the US with a superb hat trick that will undoubtedly catapult him to a transfer to Scotish side Celtic. Denmark is another country that likes to take winter breaks in the US and play friendlies outside of FIFA. But there is another side to the Scandinavian love affair with US soccer. . . A good portion of youngsters, be it recent college graduates or standout MLSers, end up in leagues from Denmark to Sweden to Norway. Why is this? Partly because these players will undoubtedly earn more at these modest teams than they would in the MLS. Leagues such as Sweeden's can also act as a window for certain players to begin to make their mark in Europe. One such player is Charlie Davies: he has been playing with Hammarby since 2007, scoring 19 goals. Other players included in this list are former New England defender standout Michael Parkhurst who recently signed with Nordsjaelland, 2009 College draft top pick Marcus Tracy (Aalborg, Denmark), Danny Califf (Midtjylland, Denmark), Troy Perkins (Vålerenga, Norway), Ryan Raybuld (Gefle, Norway), Clarence Goodson (IK Start, Norway) Lee Nguyen and Will John (Randers, Denmark), Tally Hall (Esberg, Denmark), plus a few others throughout Scandinavia. Many out there argue that Scandinavian leagues turn out to be "black holes" for our players. I can't say I agree. There's more of a chance to grow in Europe than there is in a USL side or MLS bench. In the end, if growing in soccer knowledge isn't enough then it is the financial side that can push our players to these Nordic leagues. Who can argue with that? In the meantime, Scandinavia, send us some of your players this way. Ljungberg is a nice start.
Denmark has always proven to be a hard-working, intensely-physical team with plenty of talent and a bit of flair. Aside from their win of the 1992 Euro, Denmark is a relatively light-weight team when it comes to the World Cup. Their best result was a berth in the quarterfinals of 1998. Their first appearance in the finals was in 1986.
