Wales crash out of Euro 2020 after humbling 4-0 defeat to Denmark
Wales have been knocked out of Euro 2020 by Denmark after two goals from Kasper Dolberg and one each from Joakim Maehle and Martin Braithwaite saw them breeze past Robert Page’s side.
Gareth Bale went close to scoring after 10 minutes but after that Wales failed to muster any significant attacking impetus.
After a period of Danish dominance, Dolberg — only starting the match due to an injury to Yussuf Poulsen — opened the scoring with a sumptuous effort from outside the box in the 27th minute. Danny Ward was left helpless in the Wales goal as Dolberg’s strike beautifully curled inside the far post.
Dolberg went close to grabbing his second a few minutes later when his close-range flick was blocked by Ward.
Denmark then started the second half brightly, with Dolberg capitalizing on a botched clearance from Liverpool’s Neco Williams to finish with ease from six yards out.
Despite being two goals up, Denmark continued to look the more likely side to score, with the Welsh attack blunted by superb defensive efforts from Simon Kjaer, Andreas Christensen, and Jannik Vestergaard.
As Wales pushed bodies forward in the closing stages, Denmark had several opportunities on the counter and finally converted one when Maehle checked inside on his left foot and coolly finished past Ward in the 88th minute.
Wales’ night then went from bad to worse as, in added time, Harry Wilson was shown a straight red card, followed by Braithwaite adding a fourth for the hugely impressive Denmark.
The key moment
The opening goal was the prettiest of the four — with Dolberg’s fine effort teed up by superb work by Mikkel Damsgaard, who has continued to impress at the European Championship.
The goal was a just reward for Denmark’s superiority, as Kasper Hjulmand’s side eased into the next round.
Player of the match
Dolberg, at the first start of the competition, was very impressive.
The Nice man showed his technical ability with his first goal and his striker’s instinct with his second, as he was the difference-maker at the Johan Cruyff Arena.
They said what?
A buoyant Hjulmand said after the match: “We had three games filled with enough emotion for an entire life.
“It shows the power we possess, both mental and physical.”
What does this mean?
Wales will feel they could have played much better, as they failed to carry momentum from their win over Turkey into this match.
Page’s team did well to get to the knockouts, but with an opponent such as Denmark in front of them, may feel that they should have gone deeper into the tournament and will certainly feel they should not have been as outclassed as they were.
Denmark, meanwhile, is building momentum after two defeats to open their tournament. They were very impressive in their 4-1 dismantling of Russia in their final group match and were just as composed in this victory.
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