Denmark v. England

February 8th, 2011 | by: Matilda | Comments Off

This fixture will inevitably bring back memories of the last time we paid a visit to Denmark. England swaggered into that match and came out of it humiliated. This time, we have an England team with considerably less confidence. To contrast our recent poor form, Denmark has been doing well having, a record of W-2 D-2 L-1 since going out of the World Cup before the Round of 16 last summer. While they were not very successful in the World Cup, they showed they can play some decent football.

You can play 5-minute fantasy rounds during the Denmark v. England match with our Picklive fantasy game

There are some very recognizable names in this Danish squad, the most obvious being Arsenal’s Nicklas Bendtner, although Anders Lindegaard, Lars Jacobsen, Daniel Agger, and Christian Poulsen all also play in the Premiership. Bendtner will be the one to watch, because in spite of often finding himself on the bench, he can prove quite dangerous.

Meanwhile, his teammate Jack Wilshere looks to be starting for England after Capello said “In the last two months, he has improved a lot with his confidence” about the young player. He will probably feature a little deeper in the midfield, after Wenger endorsed him in that position. Capello has been given a bit of a selection headache, having to alter his squad after four players (Steven Gerrard. Ben Foster, Peter Crouch and Gabriel Agbonlahor) withdrew due to fitness and personal reasons. This means that Rob Green and Carlton Cole find themselves included after all. It also means that Frank Lampard will be wearing the armband for the first time. Darren Bent is expected to join Rooney up front.

I’m not overly optimistic about this match. After sailing through qualifiers for the World Cup, England has looked a bit of a mess. Something, some confidence and connections between the players, has gone. This is our last friendly before Euro qualifiers start up again, so let’s hope we find it again.

Don’t forget to stop by tomorrow during the match for a liveblog with Ethan and hopefully myself!

Full Squad
Goalkeepers: Ben Foster (Birmingham) [withdrawn], Robert Green (West Ham), Joe Hart (Man City), David Stockdale (Fulham)
Defenders: Leighton Baines (Everton), Gary Cahill (Bolton), Ashley Cole (Chelsea), Michael Dawson (Tottenham), Glen Johnson (Liverpool), Joleon Lescott (Man City), John Terry (Chelsea), Kyle Walker (Aston Villa)
Midfielders: Gareth Barry (Man City), Stewart Downing (Aston Villa), Steven Gerrard (Liverpool) [withdrawn], Frank Lampard (Chelsea), James Milner (Man City), Scott Parker (West Ham), Theo Walcott (Arsenal), Jack Wilshere (Arsenal), Ashley Young (Aston Villa)
Forwards: Gabriel Agbonlahor (Aston Villa) [withdrawn], Darren Bent (Aston Villa), Carlton Cole (West Ham), Peter Crouch (Tottenham) [withdrawn], Jermain Defoe (Tottenham), Wayne Rooney (Manchester United)