Denmark 0 Serbia 0: Danes advance but Hojlund was isolated and Germany have little to fear

Denmark advanced to the knockout phase of Euro 2024 thanks to a 0-0 draw with Serbia in Munich.

They finished second behind England, who drew 0-0 with Slovenia in the night’s other match in Group C, by the narrowest of margins. Denmark and Slovenia had completely identical records from the three group games (including the same number of yellow cards received), but the Danes get the runners-up spot due to having the higher position in the European Qualifiers rankings.

Kasper Hjulmand’s side have played three and drawn three in Germany, and they continue to fail to get the most out of some of the talent in that squad, particularly Manchester United forward Rasmus Hojlund, who was subbed off midway through the second half.

Denmark will now face tournament hosts Germany in the round of 16 in Dortmund on Saturday night. England, meanwhile, will play one of the third-placed teams from Group D, E or F the following afternoon. Slovenia will advance to the knockout phase as one of the four best third-placed teams.

Peter Rutzler, Seb Stafford-Bloor and Jacob Whitehead analyse the game in Munich…

Denmark should play to Hojlund’s strengths

Within this squad, there is no question that Rasmus Hojlund is both Denmark’s brightest attacking talent and their most compelling prospect. 

That ignores the fact, however, that he is not quite ready to assume the amount of responsibility he is given at the top of the pitch. Against Serbia, Kasper Hjulmand played Hojlund alongside Jonas Wind, a plan that defeated itself when Wind got himself booked in the first half and had to be withdrawn at the break. 

From then on, Hojlund looked horribly isolated, starved of passes into space or beyond the defensive line that would have allowed his acceleration to become a factor, and unable to hold the ball up well enough to allow Denmark to construct moves around him. At times, when the Danes won possession in their own half, Hojlund was 30, sometimes even 40, yards away from his nearest team-mate.

When he was substituted after 58 minutes, it was entirely the right decision, and yet that felt like a result of the failure to create the right conditions for him to have an impact, rather than any technical or tactical failing on his part. Given the way his side played and their reluctance to play quickly or with numbers pushing forward, his limited effect was highly predictable. 

At age 21, Hojlund is still learning and his forward play will have to be broadened out in time, but Denmark already have a dynamic attacking player whom they seem reluctant to use in the right way.  

Seb Stafford-Bloor

Welcome to the worst group at Euro 2024

England have shouldered a fair bit of heat during this tournament for their slow football and underwhelming start.

But they do not stand alone. Indeed, their three rivals in Group C have all played their part. 

Welcome to the worst group at this European Championship.

Remarkably, after its six competitive matches, there has been only one win — the fewest of any group in the competition. That win was England’s 1-0 opening triumph against Serbia, a true Jekyll and Hyde display that at least got pulses racing (perhaps for anxiety as much as excitement, mind). 

Not only that, though. There have also been only seven goals scored in the six games. Again, that is the fewest of any group in the tournament so far — and also the joint-fewest in a European Championship group ever (along with Group C at Euro 2016). 

It is a dismal return.

For Serbia, that goalscoring return should be particularly disappointing. For a team possessing Aleksandar Mitrovic, Dusan Vlahovic and Luka Jovic in attack, you would anticipate a better return. Denmark too, with Rasmus Hojlund leading the line and Christian Eriksen providing the service, should do better. 

Neither of these teams have thrilled crowds at the tournament, with Slovenia, the plucky underdogs of the group, at least managing to cause difficulties for all three of their superior opponents. England? Well, their form needs no mention here. 

This 0-0, accompanied by a matching result between England and Slovenia, has tripled the number of goalless draws at these Euros. In truth, there was probably no better way for this group to end. 

Peter Rutzler

Djokovic’s recovery takes him to Munich

Jannik Sinner might be world No 1 and Carlos Alcaraz might have dethroned him at Roland Garros and Wimbledon — but Novak Djokovic is still the biggest star in men’s tennis.

Are there any other players who could make virtually an entire international football team stop their warm-up and watch his good luck message?

Djokovic was at Munich’s Allianz Arena to support his countrymen against Denmark, an impressive commute considering he has been training in London over recent days. The Serbian player is racing to regain fitness in time for Wimbledon, which starts on Monday, after suffering a knee injury during the French Open last month. The condition of his knee? Unclear. But he moved smoothly enough in his cream chinos.

He watched warm-ups from pitchside before moving up into a hospitality area for the national anthems, wearing an official match shirt with ‘Srbija’ and the number 13 on it. The Red Star Belgrade fan has previously described his footballing heroes as including ex-Sweden striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic, whom he counts as a “dear friend” and former Fiorentina and Argentina striker Gabriel Batistuta. 

Djokovic has almost as many Grand Slam trophies on his own (24) as Denmark’s starting XI against Serbia have trophies between them (30).

Jacob Whitehead

Stojkovic consistently got his team decisions wrong

Dragan Stojkovic has not been a happy man during this tournament. He has tweaked his Serbia team for each match of this group phase, and did so again versus Denmark. He opted for more midfielders — four centrally-minded ones, in fact, with Dusan Vlahovic and Dusan Tadic dropping out of the team.

That was a big call. Unsurprisingly, it did not work. For the third game in a row, Serbia were limp in the first half. They mustered one shot on goal. So, Stojkovic rolled the dice again. He made two half-time substitutions — throwing on one of the two players he had left out, Tadic, plus Luka Jovic.

Vlahovic then joined the fray midway through the second half. Both he and Tadic had an impact, but this is the third game in a row where Stojkovic has had to rectify matters at the break. In total, he has made four half-time changes in the three matches. Unfortunately for him, that is four times more than the number of goals his team have scored.

Serbia have lacked any real fluency and again, a talented group have underperformed. They will look back at their Euro 2024 with regret, particularly as they have still not progressed past the group phase of a major tournament.

For a generation of talent underpinned by Under-20 World Cup winners in 2015, this is a disappointment.

Peter Rutzler

Do teams in the last 16 have anything to fear from Denmark?

If Kasper Hjulmand’s side play the way they did against England — then yes. Their centre-backs are among the best group at the tournament, and if either Christian Eriksen or Rasmus Hojlund hit form then they should score goals. Theirs is a technical midfield that knows how to win dogfights, while they showed real creativity from set-pieces.

But with all that said, they’ve only drawn their three games. There has been a lack of cutting edge — scoring two goals and failing to really dominate the opposition for any sustained period of time. Hjulmand has been under pressure for setting up his team too conservatively — there are parallels here with England.

Part of the issue is that their attacking strength in depth is relatively weak — there are relatively few ways for him to change the game if the initial setup doesn’t work. After making two substitutions early in the second half against Serbia, changing both strikers, Denmark got worse.

The same issue applies at wing-back, where Joakim Maehle’s passing is crisp, but where he now lacks the raw pace to really trouble elite defences.

The real battle in their round of 16 tie will be whether Germany’s interchangeable attack can break down their solid back five. Denmark will not win a high-scoring game — but carry enough threat from either set pieces or a magical Eriksen moment to make life awkward.

Jacob Whitehead

What did Kasper Hjulmand say?

“It was a tough, emotional fight, and we knew that would be the case. It would have been nice to score a goal so we had a buffer, and we had our hearts in our throats. I think we should be happy to be through. The first goal has been reached. There are so many things about the game that I’m happy about. There are one or two things we can change in attack, but I know we can do that. We have the quality. We have so many players we can use there. We can create more situations where we’re dangerous.

“We have to be happy. We got through the group stage, so let’s just be very happy about this. We’re representing Danish football, the thousands of volunteers at different clubs who do a great job. We’re everyone’s team (in the country), and we have to be happy about it.”

What did Dragan Stojkovic say?

“We are disappointed that we failed to take the step we were missing. The game was even, we were looking for a chance and a goal, but unfortunately we didn’t succeed. I am proud of my boys. Serbia showed themselves positively in a very even group.”

(Top photo: Carl Recine/Getty Images)