With one friendly won, two to go, the final cut for Denmark's World Cup squad has been made. The 2-0 win over Senegal was a good result, and furthermore, the Danish team played better than in a while, good timing with the World Cup less than weeks away.
Kim Christensen, Michael Silberbauer and Michael Krohn-Dehli were the unfortunate ones to be left out.
The three players to be omitted from the final squad, along with Morten "Duncan" Rasmussen, having been called up as cover for Bendtner, who was rested for the match, was always on the fringe of the national squad.
However it was a surprise for many, myself included, that Silberbauer was cut, given that he could be used as a holding midfielder. Instead, Denmark is left with only one/one-and-a-half player for this position (Christian Poulsen being the obvious first choice and William Kvist the cover, although he usually plays right-back for the national side).
Also, I would have thought Jesper Christiansen, with the very limited playing time he has had this season, would have been left out, but this is a minor surprise. The big surprise for me was the fact that Mikkel Beckmann is in the final squad.
He has had a good spring season with his club, Randers FC, but lacks international experience and is yet another attacking midfielder/winger, of which Denmark has plenty. None the less, I hope to see him prove me wrong in South Africa.
So, without further ado, here is the final squad for the Danish national football team going to South Africa:
Goalkeepers: Thomas Sørensen (Stoke City), Stephan Andersen (Brøndby), Jesper Christiansen (FC Copenhagen)
Defenders: Lars Jacobsen (Blackburn), Simon Kjær (Palermo), Daniel Agger (Liverpool FC), Simon Poulsen (AZ Alkmaar), Patrick Mtiliga (Malaga), Per Krøldrup (Fiorentina), William Kvist (FC Copenhagen)
Midfielders: Christian Poulsen (Juventus), Martin Jørgensen, Jakob Poulsen (both Aarhus GF), Daniel Jensen (Werder Bremen), Dennis Rommedhal, Christian Eriksen (both Ajax), Jesper Grønkjær (FC Copenhagen), Thomas Kahlenberg (Wolfsburg), Thomas Enevoldsen (Groningen), Mikkel Beckmann (Randers FC)
Attack: Jon Dahl Tomasson (Feyenoord), Nicklas Bendtner (Arsenal), Søren Larsen (Toulouse)
On a final note, the Danish team in the international youth tournament of Toulon qualified for the final in their first ever apperance, but lost 3-2 to the Ivory Coast. Nicki Bille was the topscorer of the tournament with five goals.
