Mumbai: In a tournament that was witnessing a number of stalemates and low-scoring thrillers, Group C had emerged as a symbol of sorts. Across its first four games, it had produced just seven goals – the least among all six groups. So, when Denmark took the field against Serbia at the Munich Football Arena on Tuesday, it didn’t take long to realise that the first goal would probably be the winner. Alas, that goal never came as Group C delivered another insipid draw.
With the other game in the group, between England and Slovenia, also ending goalless, it meant Group C managed to distinguish itself in another regrettable way. In the round of 16, it will be the only group to have two teams – Denmark and Slovenia – that haven’t won a single match in the tournament yet. In fact, none of the other five groups will have even one winless team in the knockouts.
England were sitting pretty at the top of the table after a memorable 1-0 win over Serbia in the opening round, so the onus was on the Serbs to get full points against the Danes. But they didn’t help their cause by going in with a cautious, defensive setup. They didn’t get a single shot on target in the first half and got just one in the second. It was only after coach Dragan Stojkovic introduced Dusan Tadic and Luka Jovic at the interval that Serbia managed to build some pressure towards the end. But they remained far from finding a breakthrough, with skipper Aleksandar Mitrovic having a forgettable evening up front.
Denmark, meanwhile, began the contest with aggression and tried to take advantage of Serbia’s reluctance to push forward. But they, too, created precious few clear-cut chances. Christian Eriksen had a shot on target early on which was parried nicely by goalkeeper Predrag Rajkovic. That, along with a few well-weighted passes, was enough to get the 32-year-old forward the player of the match award.
Serbia, egged on from the stands by tennis legend Novak Djokovic, had more of the possession in the dying minutes and scampered to find that magical moment that would help them avoid elimination. But it wasn’t to be as they, like their opponents, simply didn’t have enough of an attacking threat.
“The game was very even,” said Stojkovic. “We were looking for one opportunity, one goal. Denmark are a really strong side. It was a very tight game and it wasn’t easy. We did everything possible to break the defence. We played brave football and did our best, but sometimes it isn’t easy.”
Denmark coach Kasper Hjulmand added: “We have to be happy. We got through the group stage, so let’s just be very happy about this. 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.”