As the international break started, before any actual matches had been played, there was a raft of interviews in the Danish media with some of the country’s young and talented footballers.
They were all excellent, saying the right things, sounding absolutely professional and dedicated. Just from reading the interviews it would have been easy to assume Denmark have a bright future, and perhaps they still do, but the two matches since have been a combined disaster.
At the weekend, Denmark went 3-0 down to Poland just after half time, but managed to come back to make it 3-2, still no points. After the match there was the routine questioning of Christian Eriksen, with more asked of the Tottenham player.
Still, the next match was easier: Montenegro at home.
The subsequent 1-0 loss has been a real shock and things don’t seem quite so rosy any longer. Eriksen spoke after the game about the hard place they’re now in, and put forward what sounds like an impossible task.
Speaking to Denmark’s BT, Eriksen explained: “It only gets harder now. It was difficult in advance, after we lost in Poland.
“We knew that we absolutely could not lose to Montenegro, and it happened, so it puts us in a difficult situation.
“We have seven games left and I think we should win them all together to have a chance.”
The next match against Kazakhstan, in Denmark, looks relatively easy, and then there’s Romania and Kazakhstan away, followed by Poland at home, Armenia and Montenegro away, and then finishing off with Romania at home in October 2017.
Winning all 7? Judging by Denmark’s form in recent years, it would be a huge achievement.
