CRUSADERS’ Great Dane Brian Jensen says his country’s World Cup two-legged play-off showdown with Republic of Ireland is “too close to call” – but is hoping Christian Eriksen will prove the difference between the sides.
Goalkeeper Jensen, who signed for Irish Premier League club Crusaders in the summer on a one-year deal, has kept a close eye on his countrymen’s World Cup trail that sees them face the Irish on Saturday November 11 (Copenhagen) and Tuesday November 14 (Dublin) to decide which nation advances to next year’s finals in Russia.
The 41-year-old ‘keeper has heaped praise on Denmark manager Age Hareide since the Norwegian took over from Morton Olsen in December 2015.
Former Danish captain and libero Olsen stepped down after 15 years in charge of his native country after they missed out on a place at Euro 2016.
And Jensen believes Olsen's departure was the best thing that has happened to the Danes.
“Compared to how they played under Olsen, Denmark are starting to play mixed football,” says Jensen.
“What I mean by that is they were trying to play out from the back. Olsen was a great, great player.
“He played Belgian football for years and was heavily influenced by the philosophy of Johan Cruyff – everybody wanted to play out from the back, everybody wanted to play exciting, beautiful football.
“But, when it comes to European qualifiers or World Cup qualifiers, it’s about winning. The new manager has come in and he’s mixing it up and he’s doing really, really well.”
Jensen adds: “They still play some great stuff but when they have to dig in a little bit they can be solid and are organised with Simon Kjaer [of Sevilla] at the back who has a lot of experience.”
After qualifying for the 2010 World Cup finals and Euro 2012 under Olsen, the Danes missed out on a place at the next World Cup in Brazil and fell short in their Euro 2016 finals bid.
Jensen represented his country at youth level and was on the cusp of the 2010 World Cup finals squad but was ousted by Jesper Christiansen, formerly of Rangers, for the third goalkeeping berth in Olsen’s 23-man panel.
Jensen’s omission still nags him because he was playing regularly for Burnley in the English Premiership in the season leading up to the finals while Christiansen only recovered from serious injury a couple of weeks before the tournament and got the nod.
Jensen was on stand-by for a crucial 2010 World Cup qualifier against Portugal and seemed set to make Denmark’s World Cup squad.
“Olsen decided to take a goalkeeper that had been injured for 269 days [Christiansen].
“Apparently I didn’t make the squad because I didn’t suit the team’s style of play even though I’d played every single game with Burnley in the Premiership at the time. So that was a big, big disappointment.”
Jensen has no great love for the Danish FA either and remembers a bill that they sent him for being involved in the qualifier against Portugal.
“I got the phone call and the email and I was involved in the Portugal game when we beat them 1-0,” Jensen explains.
“I was on standby because [first choice] Thomas Sorensen was suspended at the time. We had two other goalkeepers but if anything happened to any of those two I would get the call.
“When we played that game, the FA said: 'No problem, bring your family over.' So I invited my wife and two kids over and they charged me for it as well!
“At least I’ve still got the tracksuit but that was probably included in the bill I got! That sums them up. The Danish FA need to realise we’re in the 21st century now…”
The Danish women’s team refused to fulfil a World Cup fixture with Sweden last month due to a long-running dispute over pay.
Jensen says: “They don’t pay the squad the way they should be paid and there are a lot of issues surrounding the women’s team.
“The men’s senior team actually said that they would take money out of their own wages and put it towards the women’s team.
“As a player, you love playing for your country and it’s absolutely outstanding and you want the team to qualify for the supporters because we have great support. I just feel the Danish FA are a little bit old-school at the moment. They need to wake up and realise we’re not living in the 90s any more.”
However, the calming presence of the experienced Age Hareide – once a team-mate of Martin O’Neill’s back in their Norwich City days – has lifted the gloom that had engulfed Olsen’s reign in the latter stages.
Hareide's side recovered from early qualification defeats to Poland and Montenegro and finished like a train in Group E to claim second spot behind the Poles.
“We’ve got a good solid squad,” Jensen insists.
“We needed to start again. With Olsen, he was using a lot of older players. So the new manager had to come in and start a new generation.
“They’ve a lot to learn yet as you can see because they’re in the play-offs again. But this is a great test and is a difficult one to call, to be honest.”
Jensen, who is good friends with Denmark and Leicester City ’keeper Kasper Schmeichel, is a big fan of “key player” Eriksen and free-scoring midfielder Thomas Delaney of Werder Bremen.
Eriksen of Spurs has bagged eight goals in Denmark’s run to the play-offs while Delaney hit a hat-trick in the side’s 4-1 away win over Armenia in September and grabbed the opening goal in their 4-0 hammering of Poland a few days earlier.
“Delaney is a good footballer and was player of the year a few times for FC Copenhagen before he moved to Bremen. He’s very solid and has got a great engine.
“He will pop up and score goals. They can use him as a defensive midfielder as well as someone who will score you a goal.
“Eriksen, on the other hand, is probably a bit more offensive than Delaney but they both complement each other really well.”
A potential weakness that the Irish may try to exploit, Jensen feels, is the space the full backs leave down either side of the Danish defence.
“If they have a weakness maybe it is defending wide areas,” he says.
“Yes, the full backs can go forward but maybe they’re not so defensive minded.”
Everything comes down to one issue: how successful the Republic of Ireland will be in trying to nullify the threat of Eriksen.
“Eriksen has got about eight goals in qualification whereas Republic of Ireland’s top scorer is McClean with four goals but everybody chips in with goals for them.
“In Denmark, it’s mostly Eriksen. So you can maybe see what the issue is going to be – stop Eriksen and the Republic will have a better chance.”
