GROUP B
Denmark 0-1 Russia
Dzyuba 57'
Eamonn Foster
Telia Parken, Copenhagen, Denmark
Monday 22nd June
Given Belgium’s poor showing so far and Belarus’ inability to provide a real contest to anyone at this level, both Denmark and Russia went into this tie in the pleasant position of having already secured guaranteed qualification for the knockout stages of Euro 2020. The pretext for this Group B final match therefore was a strange one; it was already known that a clash with Wales in Amsterdam awaited the loser of today’s match, whilst the winner of today’s match, and therefore the group, would be playing in Bilbao on Sunday against an unknown opposition- though it could feasibly still be one of England, Germany or Spain. Without wishing to do the Welsh a disservice, the opportunity for the losers of this match, Denmark, to play Wales in a wonderful venue like the Johan Cruyff arena could turn out to be a more favourable outcome than what will now await group winners Russia in Bilbao.
That is not to say either team appeared to want to lose in Copenhagen today and the effort put in by both teams and, crucially, the goal scored by Dzyuba made clear that there was little intention of going through the motions and drawing, either. The talk across mainstream sports press and social media over the last couple of days has focussed on the integrity of yesterday’s goalless draw between Italy and Wales in Rome which in turn guaranteed qualification for both teams. Such suspicions seem harsh given the visible effort put into the match by Ryan Giggs’ Welsh side but, nonetheless, those who want ammunition were fed plenty of it by that penalty miss by Ciro Immobile with just five minutes left on the clock. Rumours (and, in some cases, evidence) of grave wrongdoing both in Russian sport and Russian politics in recent years has made the Russians easy targets for further accusations and resentment going into this tournament. This has understandably been an ongoing source of anger to many Russians, who dismissed the notion that they would collude to draw today and this victory today in Copenhagen will have gone some way to quashing rumours of corruption related to this current crop.
In the first half, however, it was Denmark, enjoying the enthusiastic support of the majority of those inside the Telia Parken stadium, who looked the more likely to come out victorious today. Whilst neither goalkeeper had much to do, possession greatly favoured the Danes who ensured Christian Eriksen was at the centre of seemingly everything. The Internazionale midfielder glided around the pitch barely seeming to break sweat, looking wherever possible to play in either Martin Braithwaite or the man in rich goalscoring form, the graceful Yussuf Poulsen. It was, in fact, Poulsen who came closest to opening the scoring in the first half an hour when a deep curling cross from Eriksen was met by the slightest glances off Poulsen’s forehead before it whistled millimetres past the Russian post.
As the half neared its conclusion the most controversial moment of the match happened- as well as what would turn out to be the Danes’ best chance of scoring in the whole match. As a corner was sent into the box from the left-hand side by Eriksen was met by what appeared to be a flick-on to the back post with the hand of Danish centre-back Andreas Christensen. The Russians protested, indignant, and the referee put the whistle to his mouth. For the briefest of moments the Russians relaxed, understanding the referee to have understood the situation as they had done, until the referee pointed to the spot. Even the Danish players looked momentarily shocked until, behind the mass of bodies, Yussuf Poulsen emerged from under the gangly body of Russian defender Andrey Semenov, with blood gushing from his eyebrow. The Danish players confronted the Russian defenders upon seeing this maltreatment of their prized striker and, despite the unapologetic reactions of most of his teammates, Semenov had a notably sheepish look on his face. The following minute saw the referee make the call for VAR though all the while his expression towards the Russian protests was more ‘just you wait’ than ‘oh dear, I don’t know what to do’. The whole video-checking debacle lasted just shy of four minutes- supposingly checking which of the offences was committed first, though it was evident upon the very first replay that Poulsen had been grounded before Christensen’s handball. As the players waited for the final decision, there was plenty of pushing and shoving and finger pointing. The aim of this was unclear, beyond it being a rather boring part of the procedures in most football matches nowadays. Even Poulsen, tending to his wound and very much the innocent party, fell victim to this tiresome trend of finger pointing.
By the time the referee was confirmed to have made the right call, Eriksen stepped up to take the penalty. He looked the coolest man in the stadium, having refrained from getting involved in the VAR-time-killing aggro. The Danish crowd held its breath, anticipating imminent joy. However, his relaxed demeanour did not turn out to do his side much good when he hit the tamest penalty straight at Russian goalkeeper Guilherme. Eriksen looked disgusted with himself and the Danes went into the break ruing missed opportunities.
The second half saw an altogether different contest, in which it was the Russians who looked at home. Whether it was more thanks to an inspired half-time team talk or the shift to a 4-2-3-1, who knows, but from the outset of the second half it felt as if the Danes had given in.
After a run which saw the Russians test Danish goalkeeper Kasper Schmeichel six times in three minutes, Artem Dzyuba, scorer in Russia’s opening-match win over Belgium, finally broke the deadlock. The burly forward was the first to react to a first-time cross from the right by Aleksandr Golovin and, though it might have flown off his right shinpad as he threw himself at the ball, it was nonetheless instinctive finishing at his finest. The Russians celebrated with glee.
The goal sucked out whatever energy there had been from the Danish side and the Russians controlled the majority of the play in the final half hour. In the final five minutes Eriksen, having barely seen the ball in the second half, tried to make amends for his penalty miss and lack of involvement in the second half with three speculative long shots but they never really looked like troubling the Russian goal. Poulsen and substitute Kasper Dolberg let Eriksen know of their frustration. Naturally, the Danes in the stands had become a little subdued but, as the game drew to its close, those in the red shirts inside the Telia Parken stadium were able to remind themselves that they are still very much in this Euro 2020 competition and a trip to Amsterdam against Gareth Bale’s Wales awaits. For the Russians, it will be Bilbao- opponents yet unknown.
Man of the Match: Kasper Schmeichel
Attendance: 37,021