After being held by Scotland on Friday, Denmark ensured that they would not be going goalless in this international break as they secured a comfortable 3-0 victory over Greece.
2026 World Cup qualification Europe
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Match Report
The game began at a great pace with both teams seemingly eager to gain the ascendancy early in this one. Greece, in particular, came out of the blocks quickly, looking for the fastest route forward every time they were in possession. However, this tempo unfortunately soon died down as both teams were struggling to get the ball into areas where they could hurt their opponents.
This made for a rather dull opening 20 minutes in which not a single shot on target was fired by either team. As admirable as Greece's route-one attitude had been, they were very often the cause of their own downfall. In these rapid moves forward, they would regularly give the ball away as any threat was nullified before Denmark even had the chance to do so.
The closest either team came to finding the back of the net in the opening stages of this encounter came in the 22nd minute as Georgios Vagiannidis very nearly turned the ball into his own net. Both he and the rooted Konstantinos Tzolakis breathed a sigh of relief as the ball went out of play just wide of the left post for a Danish corner.
To this point, Denmark were enjoying much more of the ball with 60% possession just prior to the half-hour mark. However, they were struggling to create anything that threatened the Greek backline, whose only scare came from their own player.
But, thirty minutes into the game is when Danish fans saw their team's intensity begin to grow as they created their best chance so far in the 31st minute. Victor Froholdt managed to dribble around Tzolakis, but by the time he had the opportunity to pull the trigger, the angle was too tight and the youngster's shot hit the side netting.
There was the feeling that Brian Riemer's men were starting to get control of this encounter, this being all but confirmed when the visitors took the lead in the 33rd minute. Mikkel Damsgaard managed to turn and find some space on the edge of the box, placing a fantastic shot into the bottom right corner and giving his side a valuable lead.
Denmark were firmly in control of this one now, barely allowing Greece any room to operate at the back and trying to pressure them into defensive mistakes. Despite the Danes committing a lot of men forward, Ivan Jovanovic's team failed to mount any sort of counterattack and went into the interval behind.
The second half commenced in a similar fashion to the first, as once again, Greece came out flying. However, the difference this time was that the hosts were able to sustain this pressure for a longer period, pressing in the same manner that Denmark were towards the end of the opening 45 minutes.
This persistence lasted longer, but still ultimately amounted to nothing as Greece simply could not cause any problems for a Danish backline who had enjoyed a reasonably comfortable evening in Piraeus.
The visitors managed to settle into a similar rhythm they were in later in the first half and regained control of proceedings, as this was shaping out to be a routine performance for the Danes.
It only got better for Riemer's team as their lead was doubled just past the hour mark. An out-of-position Andreas Christensen ran onto the ball and carried it forward before unleashing a venomous strike that flew into the bottom right corner, out of Tzolakis' reach.
Greece looked dejected now, with any move forward being cut short by a poor pass or wrong decision-making. But, the visitors were not done as they added a third to their tally in a goal that could have easily been prevented.
Patrick Dorgu beat Tzolakis, who came charging off his line, to the ball on the right wing. The Greek keeper was now in no man's land as Dorgu attempted to shoot from range. Konstantinos Mavropanos came darting back, but could not get a touch as the ball deflected off the post into the path of Rasmus Højlund, leaving him with a simple finish to make it three.
Line-ups
Greece XI: Dimitrios Kourbelis, Tsimikas, Vangelis Pavlidis, Mavropanos, Giannis Konstantelias, Christos Tzolis, Tzolakis, Georgios Vagiannidis, Konstantinos Koulierakis, Christos Zafeiris, Konstantinos Karetsas
Subs: Petros Mantalos, Anastasios Bakasetas, Manolis Siopis, Odysseas Vlachodimos, Dimitrios Pelkas, G. Kyriakopoulos, Pantelis Hatzidiakos, Masouras, Retsos, Christos Mandas, Fotis Ioannidis, Lazaros Rota
Denmark XI: Schmeichel, Hojbjerg, Christensen, Andersen, Rasmus Kristensen, Joakim Mæhle, Olsen, Mikkel Damsgaard, Morten Hjulmand, Mika Biereth, Victor Froholdt
Subs: Vestergaard, K. Dolberg, Larsen, Anders Dreyer, Matt O'Riley, Jørgensen, Mads Hermansen, Højlund, Albert Grønbæk, William Osula, Patrick Dorgu, Lucas Høgsberg