NI v Denmark(20/11/2023)

Did I ever write of the fact that I had the three England-based players in the back of my Ford Escort transporting them from Aldergrove to the Dunadry Hotel (don’t tell my car insurer!)? The late Alan McDonald scored our goal in a 1-1 draw. Or who could forget David Healy’s wonderful 35-yard strike which rifled into the net at the Railway End leaving the statuesque Peter Schmeichel rooted to the spot in another 1-1 draw in 2000? My own personal favourite is the match played in a deluge in 2007. It had rained all day in grey November Belfast, and I mean real rain not the namby pamby soft stuff, so by kick-off time the ground was saturated and puddles were forming across the pitch. Firemen fought to remove water from the pitch and a brave decision by the Dutch referee and Russian referee observer allowed the game to go ahead and the photographs of players splashing through the puddles are classics. Also classic was another David Healy wonder strike which followed his fellow Belfast Big Two manager’s (Warren Feeney) opener in our 2-1 victory. And the rain stopped at half-time and the pitch drained accordingly; what was wrong with that? A Danish official, exasperated by the conditions, referred to it as “water polo”, but such conditions make for exciting games. So let’s get right up to date and think about tonight’s match. Callum Marshall’s disallowed (eventually by VAR) effort in the last minute in Copenhagen earlier this year has set up things nicely. I do like the Danes, but of course I want us to win and the game to be exciting and full of thrills – or maybe just the former.

It was my first trip abroad after securing a job with the Irish Football Association. We stayed in Vejle in the north and played two matches against Denmark, flying into Billund Airport (where you would fly to if you were travelling to the original Legoland) from Southend on a rather shaky plane with propellers. Isn’t it funny how you remember some things? It was September and the trees were starting to turn into their autumnal gold and the town and its surroundings were strikingly clean and tidy. A couple of years later we were back in a similar autumn camp staying in the sports school in Vejle. Amongst that squad we had a tousle-haired dynamic midfielder with Reading, Brendan Rodgers, for whom injury would curtail his playing career and parachute him into coaching. Subsequently I have been to Copenhagen on a number of occasions. It’s a lively and vibrant city, filled with friendly and hospitable folk. Let’s be honest, what isn’t there to love about a capital city which has the historic Tivoli Gardens park in its centre? In footballing terms Northern Ireland have had many epic encounters with the Danes going back to 1978 when substitutes Derek Spence and Trevor Anderson scored in an exciting 2-1 victory notable for the fact that Spence injured himself when scoring and was subsequently replaced by Anderson and he scored the winner – maybe Danny Blanchflower was a coaching genius after all? In 1986 the Danes came to Belfast in a pre Mexico World Cup preparation match with stars of Liverpool and Manchester United - Jan Molby, Jesper Olsen and John Sivebaek - in their team alongside the wonderful Laudrup brothers.

IRISHFA.COM

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