PARKEN STADIUM (Denmark v Serbia)

UEFA EURO 2016, QUALIFYING GROUP I, DENMARK 2-0 SERBIA,
ATTENDANCE: 30,887

After spending the afternoon at Sundby Idrætspark, I headed up to Parken for the main event of my groundhopping weekend.

Denmark were playing Serbia in a Euro 2016 qualifier and it was the chance to watch familiar names such as Daniel Agger, Christian Eriksen and Nicklas Bendtner for Denmark, along with Branislav Ivanović, Aleksandar Kolarov and Nemanja Matić for Serbia.

There was also a blast from the past for this Evertonian as Lars Jacobsen was playing at right back for Denmark. The defender now plays in France for Guingamp but had a season with the Toffees in 2008/09 where he played a dozen or so games, including a substitute appearance in the 2009 FA Cup Final.

The game was taking place at Parken, currently known as Telia Parken for sponsorship purposes. The ground is a fine example of a modern football stadium. Parken, as well as being the national stadium of Denmark, is actually the home of FC København, who bought the ground 1998. The ground is built on the site of the original national stadium, Idrætsparken, which was demolished and rebuilt between 1990 and 1992. 

The ground was opened in September 1992 when Denmark played a friendly against Germany, which was a repeat of Denmark's most famous game, from a few months earlier, when they beat Germany 2-0 in the European Championship Final, a tournament in which they had actually failed to qualify.  Denmark were invited to replace Yugoslavia with just 10 days notice and went on to become the unlikely champions of Europe.

They faced the then World Champions in Gothenburg and they stunned everyone when ex-Arsenal legend John Jensen drove in after 18 minutes. Kim Vilfort added a second goal and some inspired goalkeeping from Peter Schmeichel ensured a shock victory for the Danes.

My battered Panini Mexico 86 sticker book

My first experience of the Denmark national team was in the 1986 World Cup Finals in Mexico when the 'Danish Dynamite' led by Michael Laudrup and Preben Elkjær in attack, topped their group, including a 6-1 thrashing of Uruguay, before losing to Spain in the second round. Skipper for that tournament was Morten Olsen, who is now the coach of the national side. There were plenty of the classic 'Hummel' retro shirts being worn by Danish fans this evening.

Denmark and Serbia are in a five team group along with Portugal, Albania and Armenia. At the start of play all teams had played 4 games and Portugal were top with 9 points, Denmark level with Albania on 7 points, with Serbia and Armenia with a point each.


The Danish FA refused to set aside a secure area for Serbian fans, after the reverse fixture back in November was played behind closed doors because of the trouble at the Serbia v Albania game, which was abandoned. It meant that although there were Serbian fans present tonight, they were individuals rather than large groups of supporters (the Serbian FA declined to handle tickets on behalf its fans meaning that the Danish FA would be liable for any losses due to any trouble).

Denmark ran out 2-0 winners tonight but I thought Serbia were very unlucky not to take something from the game. Yussuf Poulsen gave the Danes the lead in the 13th minute before Daniel Agger missed a penalty (pictured right). After that Serbia dominated possession and had some great chances to equalise but they found Kasper Schmeichel in fine form. 

The Leicester City stopper made some top draw saves to keep his side in front. In the 87th minute Denmark broke away and Jacob Poulsen scored to make the game safe. The result probably means Denmark will be heading to France next summer along with Portugal, who also won again tonight thanks to another Ronaldo hat-trick.

There was plenty of Carlsberg flowing at the ground this evening but I was happy to resist the, err, charms of Danish amber nectar and headed straight into the city after the game where the Taphouse, with it's 61 ales on offer, was able to satisfy this particular groundhoppers beer cravings!!