Denmark face Gibraltar this evening in a qualifier for Euro 2020.
Even though they’re playing away from home, the Danes are clear favourites and are expected to win the match easily. That’s led the conversation around the match to be about how many Denmark could and should score, but Kasper Schmeichel thinks that’s the wrong approach.
Speaking at press conference ahead of the match, the Leicester City goalkeeper called for focus and made it clear the Denmark team could learn something from cup upsets in English football.
Ekstra Bladet quote the Foxes player as saying: “I don’t like to hear questions about how big the win will be. It’s all about winning.
“We meet a team that has nothing to lose. We have to think that it is a match where we are 11 against 11. Especially in England we have often seen the big teams lose to smaller teams in the cups.
“Our mentality and attitude are crucial in these kinds of matches, because there is an expectation that we will win against a small nation.”
Having won the Premier League with Leicester City, Schmeichel knows more about unlikely football achievements than most.
Gibraltar have a small advantage, in that they’re more used to playing on their artificial pitch: “I’ve played places that are worse. There is a football field and it is artificial grass. But if I can choose, I don’t want artificial grass at all.”
Despite initially shying away from talk of a big scoreline, he made it clear that’s what should be aimed for, perhaps letting the public face slip a little: “Basically, the most important thing is to win the match. But we always have to chase a better score. Now we have scored nine goals and would like to make even more goals. If we lead 2-0, we should not be satisfied, then we must chase both the fourth and fifth goals.”
