LVIV (Reuters) - Germany will not underestimate Denmark in their last Group B match the way they did in the 1992 European Championship final which the Danes won 2-0, Danish coach Morten Olsen said on Saturday.
Denmark could qualify for the quarter-final with just a point from Sunday's game in Lviv but may well have to beat a German side who have won their first two Euro 2012 games.
Olsen said the German side in 1992 had not taken Denmark seriously enough.
"I am absolutely sure that Germany will not underestimate us tomorrow. They know that we have a team that on the day can play against any opponent so we don't have this advantage as we did 20 years ago," he told a news conference.
The Danes have not lost to Germany since Olsen took over in 2000 but that statistic is not hugely significant, given the three sides have only met three times in that period.
"If I'm unbeaten against Germany it's not important," said Olsen, who declined to say whether midfielder Niki Zimling would recover from a muscle injury suffered in the early part of the 3-2 loss to Portugal on Wednesday.
Tobias Mikkelsen seems set to replace experienced winger Dennis Rommedahl, who also came off injured in the match.
Both played in the opening 1-0 win over the Netherlands.
"As sports people we have experienced two dressing rooms, one which was euphoric and one that was filled with grave emotions and darkness. We, of course, prefer the feeling we had after the Dutch game," said Olsen.
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Rank | Team | W/D/L | Pts |
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Cities & Stadiums
The Top 3 Teams of Previous Tournaments
Year | Winners | Runner-up | Third place |
---|---|---|---|
2008 | Spain | Germany | Russia / Turkey |
2004 | Greece | Portugal | Netherlands / Czech Republic |
2000 | France | Italy | Netherlands / Portugal |
1996 | Germany | Czech Republic | France / England |
1992 | Denmark | Germany | Netherlands / Sweden |
1988 | Netherlands | Soviet Union | Italy / West Germany |
1984 | France | Spain | Denmark / Portugal |
1980 | West Germany | Belgium | Czechoslovakia |
1976 | Czechoslovakia | West Germany | Netherlands |
1972 | West Germany | Soviet Union | Belgium |
1968 | Italy | Yugoslavia | England |
1964 | Spain | Soviet Union | Hungary |
1960 | Soviet Union | Yugoslavia | Czechoslovakia |