MATCH 05 REVIEW : DETERMINED DENMARK DELIGHT OLSEN

Denmark coach Morten Olsen revealed his delight at the "fantastic will to win" shown by his players after they enjoyed the better of a goalless draw with Italy in their opening UEFA EURO 2004™ Group C match in Guimarães on Monday.

Exceptional goalkeeping
Denmark turned in an impressive performance against an Italy side that, at times, appeared disjointed, but that nevertheless created a string chances of their own in a pulsating encounter at the sun-drenched Estádio D. Afonso Henriques. Indeed, but for some exceptional goalkeeping from Gianluigi Buffon and Thomas Sørensen, the scoreline would have been very different.

Tomasson intelligence
While Sørensen won the Carlsberg Man of the Match award, largely thanks to a thrilling double save from Alessandro Del Piero and Francesco Totti just before half-time, there were several other excellent performances on the Denmark side. Jon Dahl Tomasson, in particular, led the front line with skill and intelligence.

'First-half control'
In 1992, when Denmark won the UEFA European Championship, they started their campaign in similar fashion – with a goalless draw against England – and, while Olsen was reluctant to draw comparisons, he believes there is plenty of cause for optimism. "We controlled the game in the first half, although the Italians also had a few chances and our goalkeeper Thomas Sørensen kept us in the game at times," he said.

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