Meagre 1:1 draw
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They would have liked to be lions, but they played like kittens - England's "Three Lions" suffered a setback on the way to their first title win since 1966 after their already meagre opening victory! Harry Kane and Co. gritted their teeth against Denmark, coming away with a 1-1 draw ...
"Never change a winning team" - inspired by the motto coined by his legendary predecessor and World Cup-winning coach Alf Ramsey, England boss Gareth Southgate sent his Three Lions out onto the pitch at Frankfurt's Deutsche Bank Park with the same line-up as in the 1-0 win over Serbia.
England overcautious, passive, slow, static, lacking in ideas and despondent
Southgate, who now has 97 international caps to his name, is unlikely to have given his team a mission, but Jude Bellingham and Co. handled it just like in the European Championship opener: They played over-cautiously, passively, slowly, statically, lacking in ideas and despondent. And they did so against Denmark, who knocked on England's door for the first time after just 24 seconds through former striker Rasmus Højlund, but were unable to really threaten keeper Jordan Pickford.
As far as the following 18 minutes were concerned, the cloak of silence can be spread over them - with the exception of a change of footwear (!) by England right-back Kyle Walker (10th), the game was completely devoid of tactics, play and emotion (!).
Harry Kane slid in easily standing in the five-man box
It was the freshly-shod Walker, of all people, who was able to set the first exclamation mark in the match: The Man City star outmuscled Victor Kristiansen, who was completely focused on winger Bukayo Saka, in the right half of the pitch in front of the Denmark penalty area, took the ball from him and marched a few more steps towards the middle - his subsequent pass landed not unhappily via Saka and Andreas Christensen to Bayern star Harry Kane, who slotted in easily standing in the five (18th).
The starting signal for a firework display from England?
The "can opener" for the "Three Lions", as they like to say these days? The starting signal for a firework display from England, who are equipped with numerous attacking wizards? Not at all! Rather, it seemed as if Southgate's team wanted to get the 1:0 over the line immediately, almost more than before from the start, they were now overcautious, passive, slow, static, lacking in ideas and despondent ...
114-km/h blast from the former Admiran Hjulmand
Slowly but surely, the Danes began to get into the game better and, playing in a 3-4-1-2 formation, they were now clearly dominating the game against an England side that was getting deeper and deeper. Initially, their attacking moves were blocked (23rd, 26th, 29th/Eriksen) or fended off (25th/Jonas Wind, 30th/Joakim Maehle, 33rd/Wind) by the many-legged England defense, but in the 34th minute the time had come: After a bad pass from Kane, Kristiansen laid off to former Admiran Morten Hjulmand and he fired a 114 km/h shot into the England goal from 28 meters that was unstoppable for Pickford.
A lot of struggle and cramp, but no winner for Denmark against England ... An absolutely deserved equalizer, which also meant that the game went into the half-time break at 1:1 - because apart from what with a little imagination could be considered half-chances and ultimately unsuccessful offensive actions (36./Hjulmand, 38./Joachim Andersen and 41./Phil Foden) there was no more. Remarkably punctually after exactly 45 minutes, referee Artur Soares Dias finally had enough of the game - intermission!
"Three Lions" still more like "pussycats"
Both teams continued without any personnel changes after the restart - and the characteristics of the game remained unchanged for the time being. The "Three Lions" continued to act more like "pussycats" and let the much more alert Danes get the better of them. As in the first half, the first chance to score belonged to the Danes, who were nominally the home team in Frankfurt: first a Wind shot was blocked in the middle by Declan Rice after a Maehle pass and then Højlund failed to get a decisive header (48').
Coincidence or not: After a Saka chance for England following a Danish lapse in defense (53') and the substitution of Conor Gallagher for Trent Alexander-Arnold (54'), Southgate's team began to show some real attacking spirit for the first time. However, Foden was just as unlucky with a shot at the post from 20 meters (56') after Saka's preparatory work as Saka himself was with his attempted shot (59') after being denied by two Danes.
The Arsenal star, by now the most eye-catching "Three Lion", was also at the center of attention when he was hit in the face by an Eriksen free-kick (60) - but he was able to continue playing until the 69th minute. Could a tricky and creative player like Man City star Jack Grealish have helped the English game? We will never know, as team boss Southgate decided not to include the 28-year-old "enfant-terrible" in the European Championship squad ...
Last 20 minutes made up for the previous 70
The last 20 minutes of the duel between Denmark and England made up at least a little for the previous 70: Both the "Danish Dynamite" and the "Three Lions" had the decision on their feet or in their heads, for example through Ollie Watkins, who came on as a substitute for Kane but failed to beat Denmark goalkeeper Kasper Schmeichel (71'), or through Pierre-Emile Höjbjerg, who found his master in England keeper Pickford with two long-range shots (73' and 77').
However, neither team was able to break the deadlock until the final whistle - the ultimately fair draw means that the "Three Lions" will probably not be denied a place in the round of 16. However, the Danes will need to record their first win in the group final against Serbia if they want to progress to the knockout round.
The result:
Denmark - England 0:1 (0:1)
Frankfurt, Deutsche Bank Park, 48,000 spectators, referee Artur Soares Dias (POR)
Goals: 0:1 (18') Kane, 1:1 (34') Hjulmand
Yellow cards: Vestergaard, Maehle, Nörgaard and Gallagher respectively
Denmark: Schmeichel - Andersen, Christensen, Vestergaard - Maehle, Hjulmand (82nd Nörgaard), Höjbjerg, Kristiansen (57th Bah) - Eriksen (82nd Skov Olsen) - Höjlund (67th Poulsen), Wind (57th Damsgaard)
England: Pickford - Walker, Stones, Guehi, Trippier - Alexander-Arnold (54. Gallagher), Rice - Saka (70. Eze), Bellingham, Foden (69. Bowen) - Kane (69. Watkins)
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