SOCCER-SERBIA GAME IS DENMARK'S DAY OF DESTINY, SAYS FA BOSS
MUNICH, Germany (Reuters) - After two draws in their opening Euro 2024 games, Denmark's final Group C game against Serbia will be one that defines the current team and management, Danish FA (DBU) director of football Peter Moeller said.
The team has enjoyed great success under Kasper Hjulmand, making the semis of Euro 2020 and playing some brilliant football, but a disappointing early exit from the World Cup in Qatar and a shaky Euro 2024 qualifying campaign have led to questions over where Danish football is headed.
Describing Tuesday's game against the Serbs in Munich as "defining and decisive", Moeller said that the national team is at a crossroads.
"If we go out, it will be two major tournaments in a row where we don't progress from the group stage, but conversely we have the chance to progress without having lost a game, which we haven't done at the Euros for 20 years," Moeller said.
The 52-year-old, who won 20 caps for Denmark in a career that saw him represent teams such as Dutch side PSV Eindhoven, Spain's Real Oviedo and English club Fulham, brushed off speculation about Hjulmand's future, stressing that the coach has a contract until 2026.
"This is a very important game, both now and for the future. Therefore it's perhaps much better to focus on this championship to begin with, and to prepare ourselves for this game," he said.
Moeller accepted that performances over the last couple of years had not been good enough, but said that the Danish team is showing signs of finding its best form after draws with Slovenia and England.
"We are back, we are hard to play against and hard to beat. If we can maintain the attitude we had against England, then we are in a good place," Moeller said.
The Danes are second in the group on two points, two behind leaders England, who play third-placed Slovenia in their final game, and one ahead of bottom side Serbia.
(Reporting by Philip O'Connor, editing by Pritha Sarkar)
2024-06-22T19:56:35Z dg43tfdfdgfd
