When Denmark's vacation footballers embarrassed the DFB team
The German national football team's EM quarter-final against Denmark on Saturday (21 pm at ZDF, Magenta TV, and live ticker at ntv.de) in Dortmund is the fifth encounter between the two countries. The matches between them from the 1986 World Cup to the 2012 EM have always been explosive. Thirty-two years ago, in Gothenburg, the German team received a bitter red-white lesson. The last tournament match took place in Ukraine.
- June 1986, WM, Group Stage, Queretaro/Mexico, 0:2
Germany and Denmark play in Mexico for the group win. But Denmark shows the German team of Franz Beckenbauer their limits. Jesper Olsen and Frank Arnesen score. Danish coach Sepp Piontek delivers a harsh verdict: "The Germans have played poorly. There wasn't much there. They weren't a threat to us at all." Denmark is suddenly considered one of the WM favorites, but they are eliminated in the Round of 16 against Spain. Germany advances in the lighter half of the bracket to the final.
- June 1988, EM, Group Stage, Gelsenkirchen, 2:0
At home EM 36 years ago, it's against Denmark once again. But Danish Dynamite no longer ignites. "An era has ended," says Piontek. Jurgen Klinsmann and Olaf Thon score for Germany. Team manager Franz Beckenbauer flies off by helicopter to Frankfurt right after. His assistant Holger Osieck comments instead of the Kaiser: "I'd especially like to highlight the unbridled fighting spirit of this team." Denmark is eliminated, and Germany makes it to the semi-finals against the Netherlands.
- June 1992, EM, Final, Gothenburg/Sweden, 0:2
At one of football's greatest upsets, Germany is the unfortunate loser. Denmark's holiday footballers, called up at the last minute to replace banned Yugoslavia, win the EM title in Gothenburg. Berti Vogts draws a hard conclusion after his first tournament as national coach: "Some players couldn't handle the mental pressure. Others need to learn the word self-criticism." The Danes are celebrated by the football world for their red-white marathon party.
- June 2012, EM, Group Stage, Lviv/Ukraine, 2:1
Germany has a promising team. Against Denmark in the last EM group game, they cannot afford to lose despite two victories against Portugal and the Netherlands. Lukas Podolski and Lars Bender score for the win. But it was close. "If we don't have the killer instinct we had in the first half against Denmark, then it's always difficult," says national coach Joachim Loew. Germany advances to the knockout stage. For a title under Loew, it takes another two years at the 2014 World Cup in Brazil.
The German national soccer team's preparation for the European Football Championship 2024 is a topic of interest, with the DFB (German Football Association) playing a significant role.
In the European Football Championship 1986 in Mexico, Denmark dealt Germany a bitter defeat in their group stage match, which has since become a notable moment in the history of both teams' national soccer teams.
