UEFA Euro 2024: Denmark Coach Insists Manchester United Duo Can Shine Despite Season Struggles
Written by Oluwaseun Oyediji
Denmark Assistant coach Morten Wieghorst is sure Manchester United duo Chrisian Eriksen and Rasmus Hojlund will bring their team cohesion at the club level to play with Danes despite plenty of turbulence at the Premier League club this past season as they prepare to face Slovenia in their first group match of UEFA Euro 2024 on Sunday.
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The former Denmark midfielder who is now part of Kasper Hjulmand’s backroom team, said that playing and training together would give the pair a better understanding as they take on Slovenia, England, and Serbia in Group C in Germany.
“To try and utilise those relationships that players can have from their club situations is always a benefit, especially when you’re talking about great players like Christian and Rasmus,” Wieghorst told Reuters in a recent interview before the team departed for Germany.
Though the Red Devils beat Manchester City to win the FA Cup, an eighth-placed finish was the Old Trafford club’s worst in the Premier League. However, Wieghorst said that was less important than the amount of time the pair had trained together.
“Historically, that’s been a lynchpin for Denmark as well – in our great ’80s Danish team, we had players playing together at Ajax, at Anderlecht, clubs like that where players were playing at a high level.
"They were playing together and bringing those relationships back to the national team, which is a great thing - even in the 1992 Euro-winning team we had seven or eight players with relationships back to Brondby, and that's something that can be utilised," he said.
Wieghorst opined that Eriksen will play pivotal role if Denmanrk is to sale the hurdle of their oppoents in the group stage of the tournament.
"Eriksen is still a fantastic player and he has the experience - we have to remember that going into the Euros and finals in general, having players that have been there before and done it and tried everything is so important," he said.
The 1992 European champions will get their campaign underway against Slovenia on Sunday before firther games against England and Serbia.
Meanwhile...
Playmaker Christian Eriksen (32), whose last outing at the European Championship for Denmark ended in a heart attack witnessed by millions watching around the world, has been included in Kasper Hjulmand's squad for Euro 24 in Germany.
Eriksen was among the 26 names announced on for the tournament in which Denmark play Slovenia, England, and Serbia in Group C, but there was no place for English-born midfielder Matt O'Riley, despite a fine season with Scottish Premiership champions Celtic.
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"It's hard to disappoint someone, these are boyhood dreams that come up short, (but) I'm very happy with the squad we have," Hjulmand told reporters.
Eriksen sent fans into shock in 2021 when he sank to the turf at the Parken Stadium in Copenhagen in the Danes' Euro opener against Finland. He recovered and with the aid of an implanted heart device resumed his playing career.
He will be joined in Germany by Manchester United teammate Rasmus Hojlund and is expected to have a more central role in the Danish midfield, with Club Brugge winger Andreas Skov Olsen taking over his old position on the right.
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