Danish Dark Horse

Qualification

In 1992, the Euros should have taken place in Spain, but due to the 1992 Expo in Seville and the 1992 Summer Olympic Games in Barcelona, Sweden had the honor of hosting the fabulous tournament after a decision by the UEFA Executive Committee in 1988.

As all tournaments, there should be a qualification round to determine the teams participating in the finals. Group 4 had some interesting battle between Yugoslavia and Denmark on the ticket to Sweden. They were drew along with Austria, Northern Ireland and first-time qualification participants, the Faroe Islands. The battle was over the 1st place in the group as it was the only way to the Euros.

The 1st match for Yugoslavia was a win against Northern Ireland thanks to goals by Pancev and Prosinecki in the 36th and 86th minute respectively. On the same day, Faroe Islands had an impressive start against Austria winning one nil after a goal at the 61st minute by Nielsen. The 1st match for Denmark was about a month later against Faroe Islands, and won comfortably 4 1 with star man Micheal  Laudrup scoring 2 at 8th and 48th minutes aided with goals by Elstrup at 37' and Povlsen at 89

2nd matches for the top 2 teams were started by Denmark Vs Northern Ireland. Neither teams found a way out after the 1-1 equalizer by Clarke of Northern Ireland at 58', after a goal from the penalty spot by Bartram at 11'. Yugoslavia did not let the opportunity of leading alone pass. In their match against Austria, they won 4 1 after a hat-trick by Pancev, now on 4 goals in the qualifying round, with goals on 32', 52' 85'. Srecko Katanec had a goal contribution too in the 43rd minute. The only goal by Austria was scored by Ogris at 15'

With Yugoslavia leading the group now with 4 points, Denmark had 3 right behind them. The match had the highest attendance in the 4th group matches with 39,700 people in the stands of Idtraetsparken of Copenhagen. Unfortunately for the Danish fans, their team lost the match in front of their eyes with a bitter score of 2 0 scored by Bazderivic (77') and Jami (84'). A hard fought match between the 2 sides resulted in a 3 point lead for Yugoslavia above their direct rivals. The other match was between Austria and Northern Ireland, but the pathway to the goal was not found in the 90 minutes.

Yugoslavia would then complete a 4-win streak after a 4 1 win against Northern Ireland after another incredible performance by Pancev who scored another hat-trick (47', 60', 62') after his teammate Binic scored at the 35'. The country from the UK had only one goalscorer this match: Colin Hill (44') .

The next match for both teams was a thriller against each other. This time, the match took place in the Red Star Stadium in what is now called Serbia. With a much lower attendance of about 16 thousand, Denmark were able to grab the 2 points from Belgrade stadium by goals of Christensen on 31st and 63rd minutes that meant Pancev's 8th goal in the tournament made no change. Meanwhile, Faroe Islands got their 3rd point after a draw with Northern Ireland. Goals were scored by Clarke by the latter, while Faroe Islands' goal was by Reynheim.

The standings were not that odd. Yugoslavia with 8 points in the lead, followed by 5 from Denmark. 3rd place was occupied by Northern Ireland with 3 points, only ahead of Faroe Islands on goal difference. The campaign was not the best from Austria who had only 1 point. Difference of matches played had a role though. The leaders were on 5 matches, Danes with 4, Northern Irish played 5, 3 for Faroe Islands, and the same for the Austrians. This meant that the journey is still long for all teams, even the trailing team Austria had a chance of qualifying.

 Matches resumed with a sense of high responsibility by the players as they represented a whole country. The 1st match was between leaders and 4th placed Faroe Islands. Although it was a very sensitive part of the journey, Faroe Islands were thrashed 7-0! 7 goals by 6 different scorers, and of course, the only one who appeared twice on the score sheet was Pancev. 6 days later, Faroe Islands seemed to give up after a 3 nil loss against group trailers Austria, who declared their opponent as new group trailers.

 Next up, Denmark were able to beat Austria 2-1 with both goals scored by Christensen who is now on four goals in the tournament. Austria's lonely goal was scored by Ogris. The Faroe Islands lost their will to continue as they lost their next 2 games harshly against Northern Ireland and Denmark by scores of 5 nil and 4 nil respectively. This meant that Faroe Islands lost their hope in getting a 1st appearance in the European championship with a difference of 7 points between them and the qualifying place with only one match remaining for them. Similarly, Austria were also out as they were the same difference but with 3 matches not played yet. Northern Ireland were also out with 2 matches remaining for them and a 5 point difference.

 This all meant that the battle would go on between the Danes and the Yugoslavs. Each had 2 matches yet to be played. For the first against Austria and Northern Ireland and for the other team Faroe Islands and Austria. Denmark went on to win the first of 2 remaining matches 3-0 with Christensen  and Povlsen on the score sheet, while Artner of Austria scored an own goal in the opening 9 minutes. Yugoslavia won their match against Faroe Islands too, but this time they won only 2 0 with goals from Jugovic and Savicevic. Northern Ireland won Austria 2 1, but sadly enough this still meant they were disqualified.

The decisive moment has come. It was either Denmark or Yugoslavia. Their matches were played in the same time, on the 13th of November 1991 at 18:30 GMT. Denmark Vs Northern Ireland in the Odense Stadium of Denmark, while Praterstadion of Vienna hosted the match of home team Austria Vs Yugoslavia. For Denmark to qualify, they needed a win with the Yugoslavs losing. 18 minutes into the start of both matches, Lukic scored for Yugoslavia. 4 minutes later, Povlsen was able to score for Denmark, and did so again at 36'. Not long after, Yugoslavia scored another through Savicevic at 38'. At the 71st minute, Northern Ireland scored a goal via Gerald Taggart. Matches finsihed, with both teams winning, meaning that Yugoslavia was qualified to play in Swedish stadiums for the Euros the following year. 

However, the UEFA banned Yugoslavia from participating as they were in a civil war on the 31st of May 1992. Therefore, Denmark were allowed in. Their dream of a 4th appearance in the Euros became real. Nevertheless, Denmark was still out powered by the other teams that included title-holders Netherlands, record-winners West Germany, along with the decorated squads of France and England.