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Denmark's Sand sinks Scotland Posted: Wednesday August 21, 2002 8:41 PMGLASGOW (Reuters) -- Striker Ebbe Sand scored a first half header to give an impressive Denmark side a merited 1-0 win against Scotland in a friendly international on Wednesday, their last warm-up for the opening European championship qualifiers. Denmark, 12th in FIFA's world rankings, dominated the match at Hampden Park and missed a number of chances to increase their winning margin against an inexperienced home side who fell to their record fifth successive full international defeat. "We expected a difficult game, because we knew the Scottish team wanted to do well in front of their own public," Denmark coach Morten Olsen told a news conference afterwards. "They tried, but my team went into the game with a very good mentality and we controlled the game. "I think our team have a lot of quality and Scotland have a new team. The players took a lot of confidence out of doing well in the World Cup, and if you can control any game, as we did, that is a good performance." Denmark underlined why they qualified for the second phase of the World Cup finals, after beating then holders France 2-0, as they dominated possession from the outset. The Danes always looked likelier to score in the first half with their pace in forward areas a constant nuisance to Scotland's defense. After Scotland captain Paul Lambert saw an effort deflected wide in the opening minute, the home side contrived to give the ball away far too easily. Early goal Celtic goalkeeper Robert Douglas -- chosen to start ahead of Tottenham Hotspur's Neil Sullivan -- could do little as the Danish side scored their winning goal on nine minutes. Niclas Jensen whipped over an inviting ball which skimmed off the head of Everton defender Gary Naysmith to find Dennis Rommedahl. Winger Rommedahl's powerful cross flew across goal for Sand to head easily into the empty goal. The stadium fell silent as Denmark celebrated and there would be little to rouse their vocal support for the rest of match. The visitors almost scored a second on 19 minutes as a cross from Scottish-based winger Peter Lovenkrands of Rangers was just missed by striker Jon Dahl Tomasson before being cleared by Gary Naysmith. Home defender Robbie Stockdale was then forced to clear Christian Poulsen's shot off the line from midfielder Thomas Gravesen's corner kick. Scotland's forays forward continued to lack any real purpose and Douglas was forced to save from Tomasson seven minutes before halftime. Denmark, who are away to Norway in their opening European championship group two qualifier next month, continued to keep the ball on a lush playing surface in the second period. The home side were almost level on 48 minutes as Kevin Kyle set up forward partner Steven Thompson, but goalkeeper Thomas Sorensen made his only real save of the night to block the striker's effort. Denmark always looked likelier to find a second goal and Douglas was again called into action to save an effort from Sand as he sped in on the home goal. The closing stages were disrupted by a number of substitutions but Denmark never looked in any serious danger of conceding an equalizer with too many home attacks lacking any purpose. "The result is very disappointing for me and also the performance," said Scotland coach Bert Vogts. "I cannot understand why we didn't push the midfield forward and we have a lot of work to do. "There was not any saves from the Danish goalkeeper and that was also very disappointing for me." Scotland start their European championship qualifying campaign against the Faroe Islands on September 7. Their group also includes Germany, Iceland and Lithuania. SummaryGLASGOW (Reuters) -- Scotland 0 Denmark 1 - result International friendly Scorer: Ebbe Sand 9 Halftime: 0-1; Attendance: 28,766 Teams: Scotland: 1-Robert Douglas; 2-Maurice Ross, 3-Gary Naysmith (14-Allan Johnston 71), 4-David Weir (18-Scott Severin 78), 5-Christian Dailly, 6-Barry Ferguson, 7-Kevin McNaughton (15-Stephen Crainey 45), 8-Robbie Stockdale (17-Graham Alexander 71), 9-Kevin Kyle, 10-Paul Lambert (19-Derek McInnes 81), 11-Steven Thompson (13-Scott Dobie 55) Denmark: 1-Thomas Sorensen; 2-Kasper Bogelund (14-Jesper Gronkjaer 45), 3-Rene Henriksen (13-Steven Lustu 84), 4-Martin Laursen (12 Morten Wieghorst 65), 5-Niclas Jensen, 6-Christian Poulsen, 7-Thomas Gravesen (17-Claus Jensen 45), 8-Peter Lovenkrands (18-Michael Silberbauer 71), 9-Jon Dahl Tomasson, 10-Dennis Rommedahl (15-Jan Michaelsen 45), 11-Ebbe Sand Referee: Leslie Irvine (Northern Ireland).
Copyright 2003 Reuters Limited. All rights reserved. |
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