That concludes coverage of that game, and that group. Never let us speak of it again.
Denmark’s Christian Eriksen has been named the Player of the Match. UEFA’s Technical Observer Panel said: “In a tight game, he was a shining player, and the only one with the ability to find good spaces, receive between the lines and play threatening passes. He threatened in the final third with shots and key passes.”
The excellent Ewan Murray doesn’t hold back in his report from Munich.
Neither did David Hytner in Cologne.
Updated
Denmark finish above Slovenia on disciplinary points.
The Group of Dearth
| Pos | Team | P | GD | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | England | 3 | 1 | 5 |
| 2 | Denmark | 3 | 0 | 3 |
| 3 | Slovenia | 3 | 0 | 3 |
| 4 | Serbia | 3 | -1 | 2 |
Full-time: Denmark 0-0 Serbia
It was forgettable, and like much of the rest of the group, there was little in the way of quality play. Or indeed goals. Dragan Stojkovic dropped his all-star forward line, then reintroduced to it no avail. Denmark played far better across their two opening matches and look to be struggling for goals. They’re not alone in that. Nobody is going to remember Group C with any fondness.
It's all over!!
90+5 min: Serbia are heading out. They want a penalty. They won’t get it despite Vlahovic’s protestations. Free-kick to Denmark. They clear their lines, and that’s it, they are through, Serbia are out, having scored just once.
Updated
90+3 min: Tadic loops a ball in, one to chase and Schmeichel can hardly believe that the ball comes into his hands. It was there to be attacked.
90+2 min: Was that the chance? Milinkovic-Savic shot and Kasper Schmeichel goes down low, and makes an easy save. The ball didn’t have enough on it. Serbia push and push.
90 min: Five minutes added on. It’s Serbia who must lead the chase. Slovenia are likely to go through on three points. Denmark would have three too. Both on three draws.
89 min: Ball aimed for Vlahovic from Milinkovic-Savic but the header can’t be directed goalward.
88 min: Lukic off, and Manchester United legend Milinkovic-Savic on. Denmark waste a free-kick, and that will be the last of Eriksen. Will his team see out the draw? Poulsen comes on to see it through.
85 min: Some relief for Denmark as Dolberg chases down a throw. Suddenly, Maehle down the right lobs in a ball and it’s desperately cleared by Zivkovic. It was dropping into Dolberg’s flight path.
83 min: A delay in play. Objects being thrown at Kasper Schmeichel’s goal from Serbia’s fans. It would be a shame if this got a bit nawty.
81 min: Serbia fancy this now. Only for Jovic to slip when the ball was his. Vlahovic picks up the slack. Mitrovic header! Oof, cleared. And the ball comes back in again. Andersen and Mitro clash. The Serbian’s dive is utterly pathetic. Andersen had his shirt but he fell like someone had jabbed a cutlass into him.
78 min: Tadic, in his last Euros, tries to force something. There may be only 10 minutes left. Suddenly, Vlahovic spots a loose ball, keeps it in, and the ball is placed at the feet of Mitrovic. He tries to bend it, but the angle is all wrong and it heads wide of the post.
78 min: Andersen and Mitro – former Cottagers together – come together – but not much in it. VAR does have a look. Mitro started it, and then falls to the floor with a sore side.
76 min: Denmark pick up the pressure on for Hojbjerg to concede a free-kick. Bah goes off, Delaney on, and Hjulmand off, with Kristiansen restored, the Leicester man – at Bologna last season – not the lost Leeds man.
74 min: This is the plan being enacted. Mihaljovic comes on for Milenkovic, and suddenly Serbia have options to switch the play. Eriksen has tired, and concedes a tired foul.
72 min: Eriksen pings a beauty to Skob Olsen, and the ball comes in for Dolberg, who misses the flight of the cross. Penalty? You must be joking.
70 min: Serbia gain some possession, and Denmark are having to step back. They have to concede a corner, as a ball arrows to Mitro. That gets the fans going but there’s anger when the ball is cleared immediately.
67 min: All Denmark, still. Hjulmand has a dig from distance. He’s not going to repeat his England heroics.
Vlahovic on for Serbia, Ilic off. Three strikers on – Jovic, Mitro and him. This is the moment of truth, the time to launch it, chase the knockdowns, hit Les, second ball, the mixer.
65 min: Oof. Eriksen’s corner is a beaut. Vestergaard gets over it – too over it? – and heads down and into the hands of a grateful Rajkovic. That was going begging.
64 min: Denmark still the likelier, though need to be aware that Serbia have some real class in attack. If only their midfielders would get them the ball.
62 min: Nice interchange from Bah and Eriksen and then Hjulmand steps forward to crump it into the stands.
61 min: Dolberg presses the ball out, and Skob Olsen chases it down the wing. In comes a shot – well wide and over – by Christensen.
59 min: Skov Olsen is full of zip, lovely pass from Eriksen, but a bad touch lets him down. Kasper Dolberg is coming on for Hojlund, the former Ajax man now of Anderlecht.
Updated
57 min: Maehli’s run releases Hojlund who plays the ball into a space he might have occupied. Skov Olsen can’t get on to it.
Updated
55 min: Denmark react to that, with Hojberg deciding to lead the charge, and chasing down the Serbs. A wake-up call and a half, that one.
Serbia goal ruled out!
53 min: Serbia have the ball in the net….Tadic’s ball, and Jovic squeezes the ball in. But offside came clear straight away. Vestergaard was beaten and so was Kasper Schmeichel. How come Europeans know the offside law?
Updated
51 min: Skov Olsen does an Andros Townsend, commentating here, by cutting in using the other foot. A deflection steers the ball wide. Better. Serbia’s new attack is yet to see much of the ball.
Updated
49 min: Just like in the first half, Bah and Maehle to the fore as overlapping wing-backs. But then Bah concedes a corner. That’s cleared with only a modicum of panic.
48 min: Julian gets in touch: “Having a relaxed night here in Sweden (my daughter and her mum gave up on England weeks ago and are baking a cake)….The Swedish commentators have just mentioned though that if it is a stalematw between Slovenia and Denmark as it stands, Slovenia will progress as they have one less yellow card against them….Can you verify that?”
The UK commentator said much the same.
Back away we go.
46 min: Dusan Tadic is on for Serbia, and receives the armband from Mitrovic. Luka Jovic too. Samardzic and Gudelj off. Skov Olsen is on for Denmark, and off comes Wind, guilty of that miss.
The Dutch may lie in wait for the winners of this group.
| Pos | Team | P | GD | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Austria | 3 | 2 | 6 |
| 2 | France | 3 | 1 | 5 |
| 3 | Netherlands | 3 | 0 | 4 |
| 4 | Poland | 3 | -3 | 1 |
What about a team playing exciting football?
Half-time: Denmark 0-0 Serbia
Serbia end the half on the attack but the ball is shanked out of play by Ilic. It ends a half of Danish dominance if nothing like dynamite. Serbia have been solid and the very opposite of spectacular. It’s them that need to win, remember. All in good time, perhaps.
45 min: Denmark are frustrated, when a draw is good enough for them. They need to keep a hold on their instincts. Serbia are going to try and take this one via stealth – perfectly validly. Just one minute added on of a cagey old half.
43 min: Mitro-boost in gear, as he chases down a channel at last. That sets up Pavlovic’s cross, which is then cleared.
41 min: Denmark hoping to tempt Serbia out. They may be waiting some time. The possession is 58-42 at this point. Lots of boos as they are patient, and use both flanks. Andersen steps up, and then Rajkovic saves with ease from the Palace defender.
39 min: Denmark staying patient and their buildup eventually results in Bah playing in Hojlund and Wind slips as he misses what was the best chance, from the best football, seen all night.
37 min: There’s some booing going on. Serbia are laying out their methods here and not letting Denmark play. These are George Graham tactics, and with real talent to come off the bench.
35 min: Serbia yet to shoot on goal. But they’re not here to entertain, as Carlton Palmer once had it. They’re here to win.
33 min: Eriksen sets up an attack on the counter, but Serbia have been covering any adventure. Two men back where Pavlovic once was.
31 min: Hjulmand is booked for a sliding tackle. And will miss the next match. Bah, dangerous from an Eriksen pass, pings in the ball. Pavlovic is the pick of Serbia’s defenders. From the corner, Hojlund gets the ball short and crashes at goal. Good effort, but not good enough to beat Rajkovic.
29 min: Mitrovic was the target for a long throw, but Serbia lack a Dave Challinor, and Ian Hutchinson, an Andy Legg. Do such players only come around in Britain? Not enough purchase for Mitro to direct it anywhere towards goal.
27 min: Milenkovic is booked for a baulk of Hojlund, and that puts him on sudden death. Soon after that, Wind and Pavlovic clash and somehow Wind is booked. In both cases, simulation helped hurry the ref along. Whatever happened to that being cracked down on.
25 min: Milenkovic smashes into Hojlund. Nothing doing and Eriksen himself can be heard asking for more from both ref and his teammates.
23 min: The ball is in the net…but Eriksen’s corner had bent out of play to come back in. He could open a tin of beans with that right foot of his.
22 min: Chaotic scenes follow the second and third and fourth balls. Pavlovic saves Serbia by knocking behind.
21 min: Eriksen spins and shoots, from distance, and Rajkovic dives to his right and saves. Another corner.
20 min: Hojlund attempts to spin and turn but can’t keep the bounce down. The Serbs seem happy for Maehle to have the freedom of the left flank.
18 min: Maehle has been Denmark’s prime asset so far. He wins a corner on another overlap. The first is cleared, the second is claimed – and high – by Rajkovic.
16 min: Mitrovic leading a one-man press on Vestergaard. The Leicester man wins, and then Denmark almost find a goal. Maehle whips it in and Bah seems to be impeded as he heads down. No decision given when a PL VAR man might have given it.
Updated
14 min: Lukic and Zivkovic link, starting a rare sortie for the Serbian team. They choose to retain possession rather than risk it, before Andreas Christensen steps out. Hojlund, rather like his day job, is being asked to go alone up front.
13 min: Russell Brady: “Really hoping that Austria draw Denmark in the next round. With Sabitzer and Hojbjerg playing….we could finally get that Jon Snow/Littlefinger rematch from GOT series 4.”
12 min: Sasa Lukic is the target for a ball pinged out left but can’t get to it. Stojkovic was less than impressed.
11 min: Niels gets in touch: “Thank you for your incredible coverage of football in general and for your dry humour and wit during the podcasts! (Shucks). Just a petty notice. In danish you don’t pronounce the H in Hjulmand. You simply pronounce it as if the name was spelled Julmand.”
9 min: It’s cagey, as all such matches have been at this stage of the groups. The slow descent to performances losing relevance next to results begins.
7 min: Hojberg is sat deep as we know him to, but Hojlund is slow to read the attacking intentions. Eriksen drops back to sweep up some danger. Serbia are happy to go slow here. Denmark doing the chasing, the pressing as we have to call it.
Updated
5 min: Denmark have a free-kick, to be whipped in from the right-hand side. Eriksen will take. He takes it short, slotted to Wind, but he can’t turn and shoot. Serbia were caught napping and a training ground routine has been used up.
3 min: Stojkovic, the legend of Serbian football – what a player – made three changes – Srdan Mijailovic – making his first appearance for the national team in 12 years – alongside Lazar Samardzic and Nemanja Gudelj. The players dropped- Filip Mladenović, Dušan Vlahović and Dusan Tadic – are among his star men.
And away we go in Munich!
1 min: Christian Eriksen becomes the most capped Danish men’s player of all time, since Simon Kjaer, his close friend, is still on the bench. That’s 133 caps. Schmeichel Senior, Rommedahl and Tomasson are the next on the list. Denmark begin slowly, their trio of defenders playing it between themselves.
The anthems are ringing out in Munich, and as Mac says, the Danes are much the louder. The Serbs look determined. Without that last-minute goal against Slovenia, they would have been Scotland-ed out by now.
Updated
Mac Millings gets in touch: “John dearest,. Well, here i am, at the Allianz Munich Football Arena. Consider me your inside man (I mean, apart from the proper journalist your Super Soaraway Guardian actually has on the inside -- I’m seated under the media centre, by the way, and am waving in the direction of...I don’t know...Jonathan Wilson?) Anyway, great atmosphere already, Danes outnumbering Serbs by a wide margin, but all very convivial, and a joyous reaction from all concerned when the PA announced that Austria had beaten the Dutch. Updates as I get them.”
Anders Van Bruun gets in touch: “The Guardian’s coverage of Denmark’s first game mistook Victor Kristiansen (“VK”) and Rasmus Nissen Kristensen (“RK”). It was VK who played and gave the goal away, RK has yet to play a minute in Germany, despite the player rating attributed to him. In the hope of a resounding Danish win (but realistically a nervy 2-1).”
VK is the Leicester lad, RK you may recognise from Leeds.
The second place in this group travels to Dortmund to play Germany, and the winner will go to Gelsenkirchen. Having visited both cities in recent days, that’s a mix of bad draw but good city and vice versa.
Here’s the group tables before we kick off tonight.
| Pos | Team | P | GD | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | England | 2 | 1 | 4 |
| 2 | Denmark | 2 | 0 | 2 |
| 3 | Slovenia | 2 | 0 | 2 |
| 4 | Serbia | 2 | -1 | 1 |
That team news: Just one change to Denmark after that England game in Frankfurt – there was another team playing – Viktor Kristensen (who made an early mistake for Harry Kane’s goal) steps out, with Alexander Bah coming into the starting XI.
Dragan Stojkovic was being truthful, he’s made three changes. Filip Mladenović, Dušan Vlahović and Dusan Tadic each drop out, a trio of big names.
Updated
Tonight’s earlier scores from Group D
Poland 1-1 France
Netherlands 2-3 Austria
Austria top the group, France second – they were sluggish – and the Dutch will be a third-place team, and could face the winner of this group.
There's now a high probability that England, if they win the group, will play Netherlands in the round of 16.
— Dale Johnson (@DaleJohnsonESPN) June 25, 2024
England could use a big win over Slovenia to avoid that.#NEDAUS #Euro2024
Updated
The teams
Denmark: Schmeichel, Andersen, Vestergaard, Christensen, Bah, Hjulmand, Hojbjerg, Maehle, Eriksen, Wind, Hojlund. Subs: Kjaer, Jensen, Delaney, Skov Olsen, Dolberg, Jorgensen, Damsgaard, Norgaard, Hermansen, Kristiansen, Poulsen, Ronnow, Dreyer, Kristensen, Bruun Larsen.
Serbia: Rajkovic, Veljkovic, Milenkovic, Pavlovic, Mijailovic, Ilic, Gudelj, Zivkovic, Samardzic, Lukic, Mitrovic. Subs: Stojic, Maksimovic, Vlahovic, Jovic, Tadic, Petrovic, Babic, Ratkov, Sergej Milinkovic-Savic, Gacinovic, Vanja Milinkovic-Savic, Spajic, Mladenovic, Birmancevic.
Referee: Francois Letexier (France)
Updated
My former colleague and still friend (?) Dale Johnson is the guru of permutations and on the ESPN site, these are the scenarios for tonight’s teams. Remember, England are also playing Slovenia.
DENMARK:
Would qualify with a draw as they would be guaranteed to be, at worst, one of the best third-placed teams.
Win
If Denmark and England win, Denmark finish second.If Denmark win and England draw, top spot is decided on goal difference, and the Danes would take first if they win by 2+ goals. If Denmark win by one goal it would come down to goals scored, and if that ends level (e.g. Denmark 1-0, England 0-0) it goes to Fairplay (England -1, Denmark -4). If that finishes level it’s European Qualifying Ranking (England 5th, Denmark 9th).
If Denmark and Slovenia win, they take the top two spots with first place decided on goal difference, which is now identical at 2-2. The team with the biggest win, or highest-scoring win of the same margin (e.g. 2-1 and 1-0), would finish top. If both win by the same scoreline it comes down to Fairplay (Denmark -4, Slovenia -4). If that stays level it’s European Qualifying Ranking (Denmark 9th, Slovenia 15th).
Draw
If Denmark draw and England win, Denmark finish second.If Denmark and Slovenia draw, second would be decided on goals scored, so the team involved in the higher-scoring draw goes through. Ergo, Denmark 2-2 and Slovenia 1-1 sees Denmark finish second. If both draw by the same scoreline, second is decided on Fairplay points (Denmark -4, Slovenia -4). If that’s level it’s European Qualifying Ranking (Denmark 9th, Slovenia 15th).
If Denmark draw and Slovenia win, Denmark finish third and qualify.
Loss
While two points is still mathematically possible as a best third place, it won’t be enough.SERBIA:
Win
Will definitely qualify with a win over Denmark and will finish second as long as England win/draw.If Serbia win and England lose, Serbia will finish third on head to head and the would qualify.
Draw
While two points is still mathematically possible as a best third place, it won’t be enough.Loss
Cannot qualify.
Early team news
Denmark welcome back Thomas Delaney, who has recovered from illness and possibly veteran captain Simon Kjaer could also return for Denmark, but Serbia will be without Juventus winger Filip Kostic after a knee injury against England. Dragan Stojkovic said “there will be changes” to Serbia’s starting XI after their 1-1 draw with Slovenia.
Preamble
What do you mean you clicked on this by mistake? Consider this a Trent-debate free zone, a safe space away from the panic that envelops any England game. Wanna talk Conor Gallagher? Click the above link. Kieran Trippier the scapegoat? Rob Smyth’s your man there. Which leaves us to discuss the merits of a game in which the permutations are pretty wild, and rely on whatever’s going on Cologne too.
A win will assure England advance as group winners. Denmark and Slovenia will progress automatically with wins. Serbia will finish in the top two if they beat Denmark and Slovenia don’t beat England. It’s that easy. Until the third-place stuff is considered.
Got that? There will be reminders. Join me for an 8pm UK time kick-off.
