The Denmark goalkeeper made these comments ahead of their showdown against England in the semifinals of Euro 2020.
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With England and Denmark set to play each other in a pulsating Euro 2020 semifinal clash, Danish goalkeeper Kasper Schmeichel took a cheeky dig at England, questioning whether football had ever come home. England will be keen to reach their first European Championship final at Wembley on Wednesday by beating Denmark. With the Three Lions playing well this tournament, their supporters have been consistently invoking the “Football’s Coming Home” anthem. Speaking about the same, Schmeichel took aim at England, highlighting the Three Lions’ lack of recent tournament success.
Schmeichel was asked in a press conference what it would mean if Denmark were able to “stop it from coming home”. The goalkeeper replied, “Has it ever been home? I don’t know. Have you ever won it? ’66? Was that not the World Cup?”
“To be honest I haven’t given any thought to what it would mean to stop England. It’s more what it would do for Denmark. I’ve focused very little on the England team. It’s what it would do for our country back home. The joy it would bring to five million back home to do something like that, to compete with the nations we are competing with. Not really a lot of feelings for England on this.”
England have won only one major tournament when they lifted the 1966 World Cup on home soil, controversially defeating West Germany 4-2 in the final. The last time they reached the semi-finals at the European Championship was in 1996 when they lost to Germany on penalties. Denmark, meanwhile, have won the Euros in 1992, when Kasper’s father Peter Schmeichel was in goal 29 years ago.
Denmark legend Peter Schmeichel believes that his country can beat England in their Euro 2020 semi-final on Wednesday. “If I’m honest, I think Denmark are favourites,” he told Manchester United’s website.
“I think it’s going to be tight. There are great similarities between the managers. [They are] very similar in their approach, man management, how they want to play the game, [they’re] very flexible, they keep very solid at the back and in midfield and then they have creativity in the wider areas and people who are getting on the end of chances up front.
“I really do believe this is very evenly balanced, in spite of what people may read in England. It’s very much about what happens on the day.”
