Denmark vow to turn the page

Denmark are convinced they will recover from their opening 1-0 defeat by hosts Finland at UEFA WOMEN'S EURO 2009™ in Group A on Sunday and take the points they need from their next two games to reach the quarter-finals.

'Tragic' end
Though they enjoyed plenty of first-half possession at Helsinki's Olympic Stadium, Denmark failed to make it count and were rocked by Maija Saari's 49th-minute winner, a floated free kick which missed everyone in the box and somehow landed in the Denmark net. Midfielder Camilla Sand Andersen was not the only one left to rue a defensive lapse which could cost her side dear if there is no improvement against Group A rivals the Netherlands and Ukraine. "It's a bit tragic, because it was a strange goal but it kind of turned the game around," she said. "That ball shouldn't have gone right through and maybe our goalkeeper should have had it. Something went wrong, someone should have cleared it."

Under pressure
Looking ahead to Wednesday's game at the Helsinki Football Stadium against Ukraine, who were beaten 2-0 by the Netherlands, Andersen knows that her side need to start delivering. "We have to win the next two games and I think we'll do everything we can to do that. We have put a bit of pressure on ourselves. Tonight there will be disappointmnent but tomorrow we have to look forward. We've got two more games and still have every chance to get further. We have the belief, we just have to play our game – but better."

Plan awry
Like Andersen, Denmark captain Katrine Pedersen felt that a lack of pace and movement was to blame for their side's failure to make the breakthrough against their determined opponents. "Our main plan went wrong," Pedersen said. "We were supposed to play quick and to keep the ball rolling, and to play around them. But next to nothing we planned worked very well for us. In some periods it worked all right, but I don’t think we really got it going the way we wanted to play the game." Summing up both the goal conceded and the performance, Pedersen said: "It's very disappointing. But we're going to turn that around."