Denmark 0 Serbia 0: Danes miss chance to top Group C and face Germany after bore draw with stubborn Serbs
RASMUS HOJLUND’S Euros campaign is picking up from where his Premier League season finished – in frustration.
Denmark made it through to the last 16 and face the daunting task of playing hosts Germany on Saturday after clinching second place in Group C.
But they will need much more from Manchester United’s £64 million centre forward if they are to stand any chance of going beyond that.
Hojlund is yet to score a goal in this tournament and managed just one shot last night before being taken off by fed up Denmark boss Kasper Hjulmand.
In his defence the whole team was not much better as this group fizzled out.
Just hours after the thrills and spills earlier in the day as The Netherlands, Poland, France and Austria thrashed around to settle Group D, there followed the comedown.
The Nords dominated and had five shots on target in the first half – two of them on target but only one seriously troubling Serbia keeper Predrag Radjovic.
That was when Christian Eriksen pounced upon a mistake in the Serb defence and sent a curve ball towards the inside of the post only to see it pushed wide at the last second.
The match was even treated to a star guest of honour with Novak Djokovic showing his face to cheer on his Serb countrymen then singing his national anthem lustily in the VIP box before kick off.
The 24-times Grand Slam winner must have been feeling a bit frustrated with his football team as they struggled to impose themselves on the match.
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Even against relatively weak opposition Hojlund only announced himself after half an hour with a shot straight at the keeper.
Wearing a cheesy Serbia top with number ‘1’ on it over his shirt, Djokovic thought his team had taken a shock lead eight minutes into the second half when Crystal Palace defender Joachim Andersen prodded the ball into his own net under pressure.
But the effort was ruled out and the linesman who flagged was subsequently pelted with objects thrown by angry Serbia fans. The stadium announcer was forced to put out a message demanding a stop to such behaviour in the minutes afterwards.
Newly-promoted Leicester defender Jannik Vestergaard had a well-placed and powerful header from a corner saved on the line by Serbia’s alert keeper.
Ex-Fulham striker Aleksandar Mitrovic was booked for diving as frustrations grew in both camps.
Former Leicester keeper Kasper Schmeichel deliberately held up play at a goal kick to remove dozens of objects hurled into his goal area by Serbian fans who were ignoring pleas by the authorities to stop doing so.
A pitch invader stopped proceedings in the dying minutes with Denmark preparing to take a corner.
Eriksen became Denmark’s most capped player of all time with his 133rd appearance but it was one to forget. Serbia are out.