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Denmark face England on Thursday for the first time since a famous semi-final at Euro 2020 – but Peter Schmeichel insists his countrymen cannot go into the game thinking about revenge.
Back then, England came from behind to defeat Denmark 2-1 in the semi-finals at Wembley, with Harry Kane bagging the winner on the rebound from a penalty, after Raheem Sterling had been felled.
Schmeichel still believes that spot-kick was harsh, and the Danish national team have experienced a downturn since that moment, finishing bottom of their group at the 2022 World Cup, losing to Kazakhstan on the way to qualification for Euro 2024, then only drawing their opening game of the tournament against Slovenia.
But the former European Championship winner says the current squad cannot afford to think about revenge against England, even if the country’s media may create that sort of narrative going into the game in Frankfurt.
“For me, it is a little bit, isn’t it, because that was never a penalty!” the 60-year-old told FFT.
“But it’s what happens in football, and it happened for us at a really bad time. We’ve had so many other issues since then, in terms of how the whole Qatar World Cup went and our qualification wasn’t great to begin with as well. It’s a different team.
“I’d be very sad if the word revenge is something that plays into the build-up of this game, not so much from the media side because that can happen easily, but more from the manager and the team. It shouldn’t, it absolutely shouldn’t.
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“It’s what happens, sometimes we’ve also had decisions go our way where you think ‘Hmm, maybe not’. It’s easy when they’re given to you, it’s a little bit harder when it’s against you, but that’s the reality of football. So hopefully that word won’t feature in our build-up to the game.”
Schmeichel’s son Kasper was in goal for the semi-final at Euro 2020, and will be expected to feature again on Thursday.
The pair have 230 caps combined for their country – Peter got 129 during his career, and knows full well that any game between Denmark and England will always be important.
“There’s no doubt, Denmark vs England is a big game for Denmark, it’s always been a big game,” he said. “And there’s no beating around the bush, England vs Denmark is a big game for England as well.
“It’s two teams with really good attacking options. England’s forward players are incredible, underlined by the fact that James Maddison and Jack Grealish couldn’t make the squad. You have an incredible variety of different players, it’s a very impressive front line.
“But it’s a front line, and football is more than just the front line. With a player like Harry Maguire not making the squad, I thought that was a problem, because he’d played at all the tournaments since 2018 and been an integral part of the team.
“I haven’t got a clue why Harry Maguire has got the reputation he’s got with fans, because I think he’s a fantastic defender. I would have loved to have played behind a player like him.”
Schmeichel was speaking after meeting up with former England goalkeeper David Seaman – once club rivals for Manchester United and Arsenal respectively – for a mini-series in association with Frank’s RedHot Sauce.
“I saw it was going to be with David and I was excited about it,” Schmeichel explained. “We talked a lot about football, and we had a lot of traditional English and Danish food, trying them out with Frank’s RedHot Sauce,” he explained. “It was funny – we spent a day recording, and we had a lot of fun.”
The Bermondsey Bierkeller will be transformed into Frank’s-Furt for a special viewing event for the game between England and Denmark on Thursday. Tickets are available for £5, including a two-pint stein and a ‘Frank’s-Furter’ hot dog covered in Frank’s RedHot Sauce. To purchase, visit bermondseybierkeller.co.uk/events/franks-redhot-sauce
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