Former Denmark goalkeeper Thomas Sorensen feels the team has to be strong when they face Australia.
Denmark defeated Peru in their World Cup opener and Sorensen admits that his countrymen should be physical enough to deal with the Socceroos. Yussuf Poulsen netted the only goal after Christian Cueva to hand the Europe nation a vital win.
Denmark has not managed to go past the group stage of the tournament since 2002 when Sorensen was the nation’s first choice keeper. They were defeated by England in a 3-0 encounter in Japan. He enjoyed 101 caps for Denmark.
“Today will be a good indication [of how far Denmark can go] if they can play free. Like how they showed in qualifying and against Ireland in the playoffs and against Poland when they beat them 4-0 in Copenhagen. If they do that I can see them being a test for any team, but they need to play better and play faster and muscle up a bit.” he told Omnisport.
“They talked before the Peru game about their physical strength compared to them but I thought Peru came out looking strongest, so that needs to change because Australia is not going to be easy, that’s one of their strong sides is being physical and the fight they always come up with.
“I’m hoping we can get him more into the game because it will be difficult the way Australia set up, they’re very well drilled by Bert van Marwijk and they’ve been working on limiting that space from the defense. They work across the pitch and stay in the same shape, so it’ll be hard for Eriksen to find that space but it’ll be vital for Denmark to get him involved and get him on the ball as much as they can, that’ll be key. Hopefully, they go into today with a lot more confidence and feel like the pressure is off.” Sorensen added.
“They’re probably aware Australia are not as much of a threat on the counter as Peru were, not as quick and sharp, and hopefully they can get their game going a little bit better.
“Everyone was happy we won the first game but we have to also be realistic that, if we want to go far in this tournament, that wasn’t good enough and the players have come out and said that we discussed it after the game and that needs to change,” Sorensen explained.
Peru and France clash later in the other group matches later after the Denmark V Australia match.