Denmark 0 Serbia 0: Danes advance, but Hojlund was isolated and Germany has little to fear

Denmark reached the knockout stages of Euro 2024 thanks to a 0-0 draw against Serbia in Munich.

They finished second behind England, who drew 0-0 against Slovenia by the narrowest of margins in the evening’s other Group C match. Denmark and Slovenia had completely identical records from the three group matches (including the same number of yellow cards received), but the Danes are awarded second place due to their higher position in the European qualifiers rankings.

Kasper Hjulmand’s side have played three times and drawn three times in Germany, and they are still failing to get the most out of some of the talent in that squad, most notably Manchester United striker Rasmus Hojlund, who the second half was eliminated.

Denmark will now face tournament host Germany in the eighth finals on Saturday evening in Dortmund. England, meanwhile, will play one of the third-placed teams from Group D, E or F the following afternoon. Slovenia will progress to the knockout stages as one of the top four third-placed teams.

Peter Rutzler, Seb Stafford-Bloor and Jacob Whitehead analyze the match in Munich…

Denmark should play to Hojlund’s strengths

Within this squad, there is no doubt that Rasmus Hojlund is Denmark’s brightest attacking talent and most attractive prospect.

However, that ignores the fact that he is not quite ready to take on the amount of responsibility he will be given at the top of the pitch. Against Serbia, Kasper Hjulmand played alongside Jonas Wind against Hojlund, a plan that backfired when Wind was booked in the first half and had to be withdrawn at halftime.

From then on, Hojlund looked terribly isolated, starved of passes into space or beyond the defensive line that could make his acceleration a factor, and unable to hold the ball up well enough to allow Denmark to make moves around him to make. Sometimes, when the Danes won possession in their own half, Hojlund was 30, sometimes even 40 yards away from his nearest teammate.

When he was substituted after 58 minutes it was entirely the right decision, but it still felt like the result of an inability to create the right conditions for him to have an impact, rather than a technical or tactical failure on his part. Given the way his side played and their unwillingness to play fast or with progressive numbers, his limited impact was very predictable.

At 21, Hojlund is still learning and his forward game will need to be expanded over time, but Denmark already has a dynamic attacking player that they are reluctant to utilize properly.

Seb Stafford-Bloor

Welcome to the worst group at Euro 2024

England have received their fair share of criticism during this tournament for their slow football and disappointing start.

But they are not alone. Their three rivals in Group C have all played their part.

Welcome to the worst group at this European Championship.

Remarkably, after six competitive matches, only one victory has been achieved: the fewest of all groups in the competition. That victory was England’s 1-0 opening win against Serbia, a true Jekyll and Hyde display that at least got the pulse racing (perhaps as much as excitement, mind).

But not only that. Only seven goals have been scored in the six games. Again, that’s the fewest of any group in the tournament so far – and also the joint fewest in any European Championship group ever (along with Group C at Euro 2016).

It’s a somber return.

For Serbia, that goal return should be particularly disappointing. For a team with Aleksandar Mitrovic, Dusan Vlahovic and Luka Jovic in attack, you would expect a better return. Denmark, with Rasmus Hojlund up front and Christian Eriksen in service, should also do better.

None of these teams have thrilled the crowds at the tournament, with Slovenia, the plucky underdog of the group, at least managing to cause problems for all three of their superior opponents. England? Well, their shape doesn’t need to be mentioned here.

This 0-0, accompanied by a draw between England and Slovenia, has tripled the number of goalless draws at this European Championship. In reality, there probably wasn’t a better way to end this group.

Peter Rutzler

Djokovic’s recovery takes him to Munich

Jannik Sinner may be world number one and Carlos Alcaraz may have dethroned him at Roland Garros and Wimbledon, but Novak Djokovic is still the biggest star in men’s tennis.

Are there any other players who can make virtually an entire international soccer team stop warming up and watch his good luck message?

Djokovic was at the Allianz Arena in Munich to support his compatriots against Denmark, an impressive trip considering he has been training in London in recent days. The Serbian player is racing to get back to fitness in time for Wimbledon, which starts on Monday, after suffering a knee injury at the French Open last month. The condition of his knee? Not clear. But he moved smoothly enough in his cream chinos.

(Sebastian Widmann – UEFA/UEFA via Getty Images)

He watched the warm-ups from the pitch before heading to a catering area for the national anthems, wearing an official match shirt with ‘Srbija’ and the number 13 on it. The Red Star Belgrade fan has previously described his football heroes as former Swedish striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic, who he considers a “dear friend”, and former Fiorentina and Argentina striker Gabriel Batistuta.

Djokovic alone has almost as many Grand Slam trophies (24) as Denmark’s starting XI against Serbia have together (30).

Jacob Witkop

Stojkovic consistently got his team’s decisions wrong

Dragan Stojkovic has not been a happy man during this tournament. He has retooled his Serbian team for every match of this group stage, and did so again against Denmark. He opted for more midfielders, four centrally oriented players, with Dusan Vlahovic and Dusan Tadic dropping out of the team.

That was a big call. It’s no surprise it didn’t work. For the third game in a row, Serbia was weak in the first half. They scored one shot on goal. So Stojkovic rolled the dice again. He made two substitutions at half-time: he threw on one of the two players he left out, Tadic, and Luka Jovic.

Vlahovic joined the battle halfway through the second half. Both he and Tadic had an impact, but this is the third game in a row where Stojkovic has had to put things right at half-time. In total, he made four half-time substitutions in the three games. Unfortunately for him, that is four times more than the number of goals his team has scored.

Serbia lacked any real speaking skills and once again a talented group underperformed. They will look back on their Euro 2024 with regret, especially as they have still not progressed past the group stage of a major tournament.

For a generation of talent supported by the 2015 Under-20 World Cup winners, this is a disappointment.

Peter Rutzler

Do the teams in the last 16 have anything to fear from Denmark?

If Kasper Hjulmand’s team plays like they did against England, then yes. Their centre-backs are among the best group in the tournament, and if Christian Eriksen or Rasmus Hojlund find their form, they should score goals. They have a technical midfield that knows how to win dogfights, while they showed real creativity in set pieces.

But that said, they have only drawn three games. There was a lack of wit, scoring two goals and failing to truly dominate the opposition for any length of time. Hjulmand was under pressure for setting up his team too conservatively – there are parallels here with England.

Part of the problem is that their offensive strength in depth is relatively weak. There are relatively few ways he can change the game if the initial setup doesn’t work. After making two substitutions against Serbia early in the second half, with both strikers substituted, Denmark deteriorated.

The same problem applies at full-back, where Joakim Maehle’s passing is crisp, but he now lacks the raw pace to really trouble elite defenses.

The real battle in their round of 16 tie will be whether Germany’s interchangeable attack can break down their solid backline. Denmark won’t win a match with a lot of goals, but they will bring enough threat from set-pieces or a magical Eriksen moment to make life uncomfortable.

Jacob Witkop

What did Kasper Hjulmand say?

“It was a tough, emotional fight and we knew this would be the case. It would have been nice to score a goal so we had a buffer and we had our hearts in our throats. I think we should be happy that we’re through it. The first goal has been achieved. There are so many things about the game that I’m happy with. There are a few things we can change on offense, but I know we can. We have the quality. We have so many players we can use there. We can create more situations where we are dangerous.

“We have to be happy. We got through the group stage, so let’s be very happy about that. We represent Danish football, the thousands of volunteers at different clubs who do great work. We are everyone’s team (in the country) and we should be happy with that.”

What did Dragan Stojkovic say?

“We are disappointed that we did not manage to take the step we missed. The match was a draw, we looked for an opportunity and a goal, but unfortunately we didn’t succeed. I’m proud of my boys. Serbia showed itself positively in a very equal group.”

(Top photo: Carl Recine/Getty Images)