I discovered not that many years back that one of my great granddads was from near Merthyr Tydfil so that pisshead in a pub in Bayswater forty years ago was at least partly right when he called me a Welsh ****. Anyway, I do like an underdog and I also liked the way Wales played against Turkey so I’m looking forward to seeing how they fare today against most people’s second-favourites Denmark. What with Covid restrictions it hasn’t been as easy as usual to get to see the games I would’ve liked and in a perfect world I’d be watching this game in the Welsh Centre near Kings Cross. As it is, I’ll be watching it at the Heron just off Edgware Road (nice Thai food in the bar if you’re ever in the area). With Bale and Ramsey, Wales have two potential matchwinners and they’ve certainly got team spirit.
I got to the pub just after 4.30 and I had my pick of the seats as there was hardly anyone around and some of them were watching the rugby out the back. I shot the breeze with a couple of the other old regulars and settled down with a large Guinness to watch the preview. There was best part of twenty thousand Danish fans in the stadium so they had a big advantage numerically but as their team demonstrated when they belted out their national anthem those Welsh folks can raise a good tune or two. The Danish players didn’t take the knee whereas the Welsh lads did.
Denmark dominated the first couple of minutes but then Wales won the first corner though the Danes immediately went back to doing all the pressing again. From the eighth minute Wales started doing some pressing themselves and Bale had the first shot of note which went not far wide of the left post. Ramsey and Bale again had chances as Wales enjoyed a period of domination and by the quarter-hour mark they were looking the more likely side to score. Denmark won their first corner about five minutes later and it lead at once to another and then another. Wales survived but it was a good spell for Denmark as the ball hardly left the Welsh half for a long while. Wales were definitely showing their wrestling skills too much and it was no surprise when Rodon went into the book. Denmark took the lead in the twenty-seventh minute and it was a great goal with Dolberg hitting a curling shot from just outside the box following good build-up play down their left. The Welsh didn’t have a chance to muster much in terns of attack and it seemed just a matter of time before they went further behind. Roberts collapsed with what looked like a groin strain and was replaced by Neco Williams but not before Moore was yellow-carded, a bit harshly I thought. Mepham and Rodon accidentally nutted each other and there was none of the usual writhing around on the deck of course. Anyway, as half-time approached it was still only 0-1 and with an all-hands to-the-pumps effort Wales reached the break without conceding further. Once Christensen had been moved into midfield to negate Bale’s threat Wales had been effectively snuffed out as an attacking force.
Within a few minutes of the kick-off the match was effectively over when Williams made a terrible clearance in the box and Dolberg promptly slammed it into the net to make it 2-0. To their credit Wales had a go but they hadn’t had a shot on target all game and Denmark looked comfortable. The action continued to be mainly in the Denmark half but the time was ticking away and the result seemed in little doubt. Cornelius replaced Dolberg with around twenty minutes left and he received a great ovation from the happy people in red – all the fans were wearing red but it wasn’t difficult to figure out who was who. There were oles from the Danish fans as their team retained possession with pass after pass. Tyler Roberts and David Brooks came on with thirteen minutes to go but the first thing the latter did was concede a free-kick just outside his penalty-area. Fortunately the resultant kick went high and wide but Wales were lucky not to go 3-0 down with five minutes to go when Denmark hit the woodwork. Their luck ran out a short while afterwards when Maehle was left with far too much space in the box and he smashed in number three. To make matters worse Wilson was red-carded, though Robbie Savage said it was harsh, and then Bale got a yellow for sarcastic applause for the referee. Braithwaite had the ball in the net deep into stoppage-time and after a long deliberation the VAR said the goal could stand and so it ended 0-4.
Nobody could argue with the result as the Danes were a cut above Wales who only had a decent spell for ten minutes or so in the first-half.
