December 1 – Danish head coach Kasper Hjulmand has blamed the off-the-field controversies at the Qatar World Cup for his team’s failure at the tournament.
Outside contenders ahead of the tournament, the Danish exited the global finals after a meek 1-0 defeat to Australia, in which Hjulmand’s team showed little team spirit, determination, or effort. Denmark reached the last four of Euro 2020 and had high hopes coming in to this tournament with Hjulmand claiming that they were in it to win.
But, while his counterpart Graham Arnold hailed his new golden generation, Hjulmand complained: “I want to start by saying that this is not an excuse. In relation to whether it has affected us, it would be strange to believe otherwise. To some extent. Whether it has meant anything on the pitch, I can’t say. But there has been a feeling that it has been unreasonable.
“A picture has been drawn that whatever the hell they did, it was wrong. There was a demand from half of you (the media) that the players should be activists. So there has been a sense of ‘what are we going to do?’”
It is a remarkable U-turn from Hjulmand and the Danish FA, once crusaders for human rights in Qatar. The Danish coach has always been vocal about social issues.
“There is no doubt that the team is affected,” said Hjulmand. “There are many ingredients in that pot. There has been a lack of power, coherence, and energy in this squad. It is worth having a good look at.”
Peter Moller, chief executive of the DBU, said that after this tournament the Danes may reconsider what they speak up about and what social issues they address, if at all.
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