At 8 p.m. on July 22, the Chinese women's football team will usher in the first match against the Danish women's football team.
Compared to European champions England Women's and World Cup rookie Haiti Women's football, Denmark is more likely to be a direct opponent of China's women's team in their quest to qualify from the group.
So what is the strength of this Danish women's football team, and what kind of trouble will they cause for the Chinese women's team?
Denmark women's football team photo of the World Cup.
Winning all the preliminary rounds and returning to the World Cup
Historically, the Danish women's football team has participated in four World Cups, three times in the 1990s, with the best result being the quarterfinals.
At the Women's European Championship, the Danish women's team finished runners-up in 2017. At the Olympics, the Danish women's team has never broken through the group stage.
However, the last time they were on the women's World Cup was in 2007.
"We are close to the World Cup every time, but we have not succeeded, and it is my long-cherished wish to reach the World Cup." Earlier, Danish women's team member Katrin Viye expressed her determination to reach the World Cup in an interview, and they did the same.
In the qualifiers for this World Cup, Denmark won all eight games as the first team, conceding only two of its 40 goals. They are currently ranked 13th in the world, exactly one place higher than the Chinese women's team.
In recent warm-up matches, the Danish women's team has also been in hot form - victories over Sweden (world No. 3), Japan (world No. 11) and Norway (world No. 12) have given the Danish players plenty of confidence.
"That's exactly what we need before the World Cup, with Sweden ranking third in the world and this result shows that we can reach that height." After beating the Swedish women's team, Denmark's Stina Balisager said.
The heart of Denmark's women's football team, Hader.
The giants are star-studded, and the big players are lost in the battle
There is no shortage of female soccer stars in the Danish squad.
Penile Hader, who plays for Bayern Munich Women, is one of them. Previously, Hader played for Bundesliga giants Wolfsburg Women and Premier League giants Chelsea Women – becoming the world's most expensive female footballer when she moved to Chelsea in 2020.
The Danish captain has also twice won UEFA's Women's Footballer of the Year award and twice won the Guardian's Top 100 Women's Footballers in the World.
At present, the 30-year-old Hade is still at the peak of his career. A month ago, Hade joined Bayern Munich Women, who won the women's Bundesliga title last season.
Denmark coach Sennogaard also praised, "Having a player like Hade is a great blessing for the Women's World Cup. ”
Swava (right) for Real Madrid Women.
In addition to Hader, the Danish women's football team also has players such as Paris Saint-Germain Women's Vansgaard, Real Madrid Women's Swava, Arsenal Women's Kuhl, and Lyon Women's Brunn.
In terms of young players, 21-year-old Josephine Hasberg is a "student player" who studied at Harvard University, and she won the favor of the head coach by running the court.
However, before the World Cup was about to begin, the Danish women's football team also suffered an unexpected blow.
Starting midfielder Jung Pedersen bid farewell to the World Cup after suffering a fractured maxillary sinus in a friendly – the tough defensive midfielder from Inter Women was an integral part of the Danish midfield.
But the Chinese women's team cannot let their guard down, and Sarah Sriegg, who replaced Pedersen, plays for AC Milan Women.
The Danish women's football team trains and prepares.
The first battle is the decisive battle
The head coach of the Danish women's team is 64-year-old Danish Lars Sennogaard, who has coached Aalborg, Viborg, Sundjesburg and a number of Austrian league teams in the Danish Premier League men's league. It was also his first time coaching a women's team.
In terms of tactical choices, the Danish women's team usually plays a 3-4-3 or 4-3-3 formation and tends to use midfielders with a tough style.
The Danish women's team is not only known for its intense physical confrontation, but also for its ability to control the rhythm with possession – players such as Sørensen, Swava, Viye and others have excellent ability to insert attacks and crosses.
Denmark women's coach Lars Sennogaard.
Facing the Danish women's team, which has a more dominant physique, the Chinese women's team needs to find a way to use its flexibility and advantages in passing control to control the pace of the game.
Looking forward to the match, Shui Qingxia, the head coach of the Chinese women's football team, said: "A lot of Danish players are now playing in the big five leagues, and it is difficult to say how big the winning situation is. Realistically speaking, the overall strength of the opponent is much stronger than ours. ”
Indeed, Denmark beat Sweden in the warm-up match, while the Chinese women's team lost 1-4 to the Swedish women's team in the warm-up match in February this year, and trailed by three goals in the first half...
Like the Chinese women's team, Denmark's primary goal in this World Cup is to qualify from Group D, and the battle between the two teams may directly determine the qualification spot.