Day 9- Cologne		Match 26	Group E
	DENMARK	vs.	FINLAND

Denmark is aggressive early, while Finland plays defensively. Big shocker there.

The two pretty much cancel each other out. Denmark keeps possession for the opening minutes, but Finland's hard defense prevents him from getting any good shots through.

If Finland is ever able to get the ball out of his box and move forward, which is rare, he hangs on to it and tries to find a gap in Denmark's defenses. They exist, but he's not fast enough to pounce on them.

	Finland along the halfline, looks for something, sees it! Up the middle to his striker! Has a breakaway! Open into the box but the keeper falls on the ball. No shot.
	Denmark's quest for that early goal is leaving his defense a little thin, but so far we haven't seen enough to believe Finland can exploit it.

Possession ends up about even from that point as things get bogged down. Denmark would have the advantage if he didn't take the direct approach and fire as many shots as quickly as he can. Finland takes more time when he has the ball.

	Denmark approaching once more, down the side of the box. Sets up a close cross. Buddy heads it. Finland dives in front of the shot! Sacrificing the body to keep it out of goal!
	Great save there. Great shot too. No fruit yet for Denmark, but it seems inevitable.

Except Finland's possessions are starting to get deeper and deeper into Danish territory. As the half continues, Finland begins to take an advantage, passing around the box and looking for an opening he can take advantage. He gets a few shots and corner kicks, but isn't able to do much with it.

Finland playing very well at this point, but he still lacks finishing power. It was his problem in the France game and it's becoming a problem now. He can tee it up well enough, but he just can't punch it home.

Denmark gets it back in time, but rather than try to turn momentum around, he gets a couple quick shots off and ends up giving it right back to Finland. As Finland continues to hold the ball, Denmark gets a little antsy.

	Passes up and heads back to the sideline. Denmark chases, trying not to allow the cross.
	Finland holds it there for a moment, weighing his options. He smiles reflexively.
	Denmark getting impatient, tries a tackle... hooks his leg and brings him down!
	There's a whistle. This is a card for sure. He was nowhere near the ball.
	Thailand produces a red card. Denmark throws his hands up.
	What?! Really?!
	And that's it! Another red card, this time to Denmark!
	Revolting development, but I can't argue with this one. He just wanted to take Finland out and didn't hide it or nothing.
	That levels the playing field substantially.
	It does. This one should be about even now.
	After the player is sent off, Finland sets up for the free kick. Quick pass along the ground! Redirected to goal! Denmark knocks it away. Good try.
	It worked for Hong Kong on him last game. Worth a shot.

You didn't think being down a man would stop the Denmark attack, did you? He goes right back to work, setting up a header that goes just over the bar.

Finland tries to use the extra man to his advantage, passing around and trying to outwit the depleted Denmark, but all of his efforts still end up with him needing to make a clutch shot and nothing happens.

Denmark continues to opt for power.

	Denmark along the side of the box, sets up a cross. Header is off the crossbar! But someone's waiting for it! Goal! Denmark gets on the board!
	No, no wait! The offside flag is up!
	What? Oh, it is! The goal is waved off and it's a free kick for Finland. What happened?
	Denmark was too far ahead. You can't be past all the defenders during shots to catch rebounds and stuff. Tough break for Denmark.

Denmark smiles and shakes his head at Thailand. A few minutes later he gets a second chance.

	Denmark in, tries for a header. Good one but it's knocked away. Finland clears out, but Denmark's back on it. Crosses back in. Headed down. He strikes it- Bullseye! No doubt about that one!
	Now that's finishing power! Denmark gets a small window and just smashed it. There was nothing that keeper could have done about it and Denmark gets a 1-0 lead.

38' - GOAL (DEN) - Denmark 1, Finland 0

Having seized the momentum, Denmark looks for more, this time sneaking in a few longer possessions with his quick strikes. Finland gets a little scared once Denmark starts to dominate, and his tackles aren't as accurate. He draws a yellow card after missing the ball completely at midfield. Denmark doesn't take the offense well and earns a yellow of his own a minute later.

That's about all the action until halftime.

	So far Finland playing much better this game, but it's Denmark who's able to get the goal.
	In the end, Denmark was able to get a goal and that's what counts. If he wants, he can focus a couple extra players on defense and make up for the missing man. It would involve thinking defensively and that's not all that Danish, but it's a smart move and he should be fine without the extra attacker.
	Especially if Finland comes out of his shell, which he has, and which he must continue to do so to stay alive in the tournament.
	At least he's recognized that. I'm not counting Finland out just yet, since he's playing well and still has the man advantage no matter what Denmark does. He does have to recover from the goal though. He looked a bit shell-shocked.
	All right. Let's return to the action.

Both sides kick it back and forth to start the second half, so it takes a while to get going. Finland is able to make a quick pass to set up a breakaway, but he still can't put it home and Denmark takes over.

Denmark eventually starts to seize on it.

	Denmark with a long pass into the box, but Finland well on it and knocks it down. It's lose! Denmark there with a quick shot! Oh, headfirst slide by the keeper to come up with it!
	Finland hasn't had too many defensive lapses, and even then it was a tough ball to handle. But Denmark was on it like a hawk and almost doubled his lead.

Denmark continues to dominate with the ball. Clearly, he wants one more before closing shop.

	Denmark clears out of his box. Up to midfield, but Finland's there to take it. He runs forward, spots and opening and past the defense! Into the box, takes his shot! Knocked away. But his mate gets it, open net! GOAL! Finland equalizes on the second chance!
	Finland! Welcome to the World Cup! After 140 scoreless minutes, he finally gets one through after a breakaway. The first shot was good enough to prevent the keeper from catching it and the second was a piece of cake.

54' - GOAL (FIN) - Denmark 1, Finland 1

Finland is ecstatic. He races to the sidelines, leaps up and high-fives Sweden before returning to the pitch. Denmark shakes off giving up the goal, but really glares at Sweden before putting it back into play.

As you would imagine, the game really intensifies now. The pace increases and both sides seem to kick it harder. This goes for defense as well, so neither sees any real progress, but as the kids say- It's On Now.

One thing to note is that Finland's shots seem to be a little harder now as he gains confidence. He delivers a pretty hard header that Denmark's keeper is only barely able to hang on to. He's starting to figure this out.

	Throw in now for Finland in Denmark territory. Short throw, but quickly passed to the top of the box. Passes in but blocked by Den- no, Finland gets it back. Around a defender. The shot! GOAL! Finland takes the lead!
	Now that's more like it! Denmark knocks down the first pass, but Finland sneaks in, gets around him and hits a great shot that curls just past the keeper. That was huge!
	Happy to see Finland trying for the win as well.
	Yeah, technically he's still alive with a draw, but it's unlikely after dropping four goals to France. A win tonight gives him a great shot of advancing though! He'd just need to beat Hong Kong and hope Denmark doesn't beat France.

61' - GOAL (FIN) - Finland 2, Denmark 1

While he's high on his cloud, Finland's not letting up, almost putting a third through on a botched corner kick defense. As Denmark starts to regain momentum, the game really opens up as both sides see plenty of chances and neither is all that focused on midfield play.

Finland gets it back and passes- stolen by Denmark! Charges in, but defenders are there. Opts for the side and a cross. Header is tipped off the crossbar! Finland clears it way out of bounds for a throw.

As time wears on and only 20 minutes remain, Denmark starts to possess it much more and Finland focuses on defense again. For the most part, Finland is okay with this as he's still able to keep Denmark out of the goal. He gets it back for a few minutes and passes it around to run down the clock.

But the real kicker for Denmark is the number of players in Finland's box. He's got it covered so much that Denmark has no way of getting through. Signs of frustration are showing as Denmark starts to make some passing mistakes that lead to turnovers.

Finland tries to attack once with eight minutes left, but Denmark takes care of it and produces a scary counterattack. Wisely, Finland sticks to defense.

With no way for his sudden strikes to work, Denmark has to play it smart, slow down and look for an opening. Problem is the clock won't let him.

	Denmark crosses the center line and holds it. Just nothing there for him. Passes up, a bit off to the side.
	Don't think he can get a cross off either.
	Nope, he passes it over... found something! Passes right up the middle! He's onside, dribbles into the box, fires, TIES IT! Denmark equalizes with three minutes left in the game!!
	Just a little feint opens up a big hole down the middle and Denmark uses split-second timing and a great shot to draw even! Denmark just saved his World Cup right there!

88' - GOAL (DEN) - Finland 2, Denmark 2

Denmark is exuberant and boisterous and lets Finland know the score.

Oh yeah! That's how it's done, kid! You can't top that! Bet I can get one more, watch!

Yeah... his entire World Cup campaign was just spared and he's looking to win it now.

	Time running out and Denmark still playing like he's down! Quick pass up, and another! He gets into the box, past a defender! Shot! Oh, it's wide! Wide to the left! That was close!
	He had the keeper beat too. A few more feet and Denmark would have gone from facing an uphill battle to clinching.
	Finland kicks it back into play and the final whistle blows. Denmark gets all he can handle from Finland but escapes with a draw.
	Great game from Finland. Like I said, a draw probably won't be enough for him to advance, but he should be happy about his performance today. Not too many nations can get that close to beating Denmark.

Finland is staring at his net, still stunned that Denmark got past him in the end. He shakes his head sadly and turns away.

Sweden is directly in his face.

Ah! What the?

Sweden picks him up and hoists him onto his shoulders. He takes him for a quick lap around the stadium, to the cheers of the crowd, before heading back in.

Day 9- Cologne		Match 26	Group E
	DENMARK	2:2 FT	FINLAND
38' 88'	Tomasson Tomasson	Referee THA	Eremenko Kuql	54' 61'

Vietnam meets up with Denmark, who is still grinning.

	Down a goal against a stiff defense with qualification on the line, how did you do it?
	Do you have to ask? I'm Denmark! I am unstoppable! You can't beat me!
	It looked pretty doubtful until the end there.
	Just making things dramatic for the cameras. Can't have Turkey's boner this afternoon overshadowing my match.
	What was it about Finland that made him so hard to get around?
	He settles in, doesn't go for broke all that much. Taking too much advice from Sweden if you ask me. It may have held me off, but where's the fun in that?
	Looking forward to the France match then? He certainly doesn't play reserved.
	I've been waiting for that for months. I'm out to take this group and win this tournament, and playing France is where you'll really see what I can do.
	Should be good. Thanks, Denmark.
	Criticize the gameplan all you want, but Finland pulled it off nicely.
	He did, and he really didn't hole up as much as Denmark says. He was aggressive when he was supposed to be aggressive and protected the goal when he was supposed to protect the goal. Great game for Finland, certainly earned a point and it's a shame he couldn't get more.
	Funny how teams that played poorly in their first game are impressive enough in the second to make us sad to see them off.
	Yeah, first Lithuania, now Finland.
	Mind you, Finland's not mathematically eliminated, but he can only advance on goal differential and Denmark has an eight goal advantage.
	Latvia's kinda in the same boat, but he's only down four, which is a lot easier to make up. Let's pull up the tables:

Let's see the numbers:

That's enough damage for one day. Bring it home.

	Well, for a day that appeared to have all one-sided matchups, we ended up with two draws.
	We've definitely learned not to underestimate the little guys. Guys like Latvia and Finland may not be elite teams, but they get into the mix for Euro and World Cup too and know their way around Europe's best.
	So that does it for an eventful day nine. Spain and France become our first teams through to the knockouts, while Lithuania and Hong Kong will head home after their next match.
	Got one more Baltic to take care of. That's Estonia, who meets Switzerland tomorrow afternoon. Feels like a must-win for both of them.
	The one I'm excited for is Italy-Egypt. Egypt looked heaps good in his first match while Italy had some holes on defense.
	And we also have Sweden against Liechtenstein. That one could be, uh...
	Well, after today's matches you never know.
	If you say so. We'll find out tomorrow. Until then, he's Australia, I'm Cuba- adios!

Apparently, the secret's out: Latvia and Finland don't completely suck. Their FIFA rankings in the game seem to suggest it, but those are FIFA rankings and must be taken with a grain of salt. Really, they're both very competent and can hold their own against superior competition. As was mentioned before, Latvia actually beat Turkey in a two-leg playoff to reach the Euro 2004 finals, and even earned a draw against Germany while he was there. But don't worry: Latvia has never beaten Russia.

Japan's proficiency in American football (and his running moves) likely stem from the manga Eyeshield 21, which is awesome and a must-read for fans of sports manga.

To Be Continued

Return To Index