Cristian Eriksen’s Euro 2020 journey may have ended prematurely, but Denmark’s fairy-tale journey continues. After losing their opening two fixtures, they are now just two wins away from lifting the Euro 2020 title, after they beat Czech Republic 2-1 in the quarterfinals. Two first half goals from Delaney and Dolberg did the job for the Danes. Patrik Schick did pull one back for the Czechs, but they were unable to find the equaliser which would have pushed the game to extra-time. Denmark will now face England or Ukraine at Wembley in the semi-finals.
The match started with a gesture of sportsmanship from Czech Republic when they presented Denmark’s captain with a Czech Number 10 t-shirt with Eriksen’s name. But that didn’t hold back Denmark. Once the whistle blew, they was off to a flier. Delaney put the Danes ahead in the fifth minute. Larsen’s corner found Delaney at the edge of the box where he was unmarked, and he headed downward into the bottom corner. Czech Republic who were usually brilliant in defending set pieces, were caught sleeping as Delaney was given enough time to slot his header in. But he still had a lot to do and the midfielder was sublime in finishing.
Denmark continued to press the Czech backline. Joakim Maehle flicked a spectacular cross into the penalty area with the outside of his right foot into the path of Dolberg who smashed it into the roof of the net. Czech Republic were under real pressure everytime Denmark had the ball and were finding it next to impossible to get the ball away from their own half.
But Czech Republic refused to go down without a fight and found an extra leg in the second half. In the opening four minutes, they forced Schmeichel to make three saves. They soon got their breakthrough in the 49th minute. Patrik Schick steered Coufal’s cross through the legs of Jannik Vestergaard and into goal. The Czech’s were starting to believe they could make a comeback and they played with much more confidence and composure, something they lacked in the first half. Denmark were under pressure but they did well to weather the attack.
Denmark players looked like they were tiring as the game progressed to the final ten minutes. But they defended valiantly and dug deep to ensure they progressed through to the semi-finals. Czech Republic had one last chance to push the game to extra-time in the dying seconds of the game, when Barak fired one last shot on goal, but his volley was wide of the post.
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