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Danish Media Triumphant After Last Night's Trashing

Maurice Brosnan
By Maurice Brosnan
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Denmark's delight is Ireland's misery as Martin O'Neill's side wilted in the Aviva Stadium allowing the Danes to progress to the World Cup.

The Danish reaction is naturally one of joy at the confirmation of a trip to Russia next summer. While predominantly fixated on the marvel that was Christian Eriksen, they reserved some special judgement for the quality of the Republic of Ireland's side and Martin O'Neill's future as head coach:

Danish website Ekstra Bladet heaped praise on Eriksen, the star player last night:

Denmark head to the World Cup because of Christian Eriksen's excellent football skills.
The little wizard from Middelfart is a football genius. Not only did he play his 75th national game, he crowned his effort by scoring three of the Danish goals.

He has become the player Denmark can not do without. It has been Eriksen's solo show, which has largely secured the World Cup ticket.

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They were also complimentary of the team as a whole and their Norwegian coach:

Dublin - 14th November 2017, we once again took the Irish capital! With a bang - and brought a World Cup ticket home in the bag.

What a triumph, what backbone and what a milestone for both Åge Hareide - and the Danish players.

DR Sporten pointed to the droves of Irish fans who left the ground early:

The Irish audience had sung for their heroes from the start of the match, but the two fast Danish goals gave a sound takeover from the Danish delegation of fans behind one goal.

What then evolved into a Danish magic demonstration made several Irish fans leave the stadium.

Tipsbladet signaled out two players for a special mention. Shane Duffy was commended for his performance over two legs, as for Stephen Ward, not so much:

We must grab a pair of stilts or cranes if a Danish national team player is ever able to match Shane Duffy in the air. That man is just a monster with his head, and he used that to bring Ireland in front. Duffy is an excellent defender and he was the best Irishman in the two matches against Denmark.

Ireland plunged up with some powerful defense errors, but the biggest mistake was made by Stephen Ward. He was at fault for two goals for Denmark and played a terrible game in every way. Ward will not receive much sleep tonight - and he may not read the newspapers today.

That same outlet also dedicated an article to the future of Martin O'Neill, hinting he is still to consider his future despite an oral agreement to stay on:

Denmark beat Ireland with 5-1 on Tuesday evening, which also became the overall result of the two playoff matches between the two national teams to see who joins the World Cup in Russia. And while happiness was happening in Denmark, the disappointment was comparable for the Irish.

It was also the case for Ireland's national coach Martin O'Neill, who is now considering whether to continue on in his post. This is despite the fact that he has an oral agreement with the Irish Football Association.

The Copenhagen Post was damning on the quality of the Irish team, citing the substitutions as evidence of their lack of real talent:

If any one moment summed up the gulf in class, it was the home side’s double substitution at half-time.

In the 1994 World Cup trailing 0-2 to the Netherlands, they were able to call on the likes of Jason Macteer and Tony ‘I once had an Irish wolfhound’ Cascarino from the bench.

Tonight, again needing two goals to save the game, they threw on Aiden McGeady of Sunderland and Wes Hoolahan of Norwich City – two players at English Championship sides, the division that national coach Martin O’Neill recruits over half his squad from.

History has shown you can win the English Premier League with kids, but you certainly can’t win the World Cup with a team from the English Championship.

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SEE ALSO: Wes Hoolahan's International Career Leaves Us With Little But "What Ifs"

 

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