Five-goal Rasmussen ends Finnish hopes

Morten Rasmussen scored five goals in the final 30 minutes as Denmark qualified for the quarter-finals of the UEFA European Under-17 Championship with a remarkable 6-0 victory over Finland today.

Superb display
The host of scouts and club agents at the match witnessed a superb individual display by the AGF Århus striker, as Denmark cruised to victory and eliminated their opponents in the process.

Danish record
It was not the first time a Danish player had scored five or more goals in a UEFA European Youth Championship match, as Brian Skaarup went one better, scoring six times when Denmark beat Austria 9-3 in the U-16 Championship in 1989.

Tactics backfire
Finnish coach Timo Liekoski opted for a defensive 3-5-1 formation in a bid to stifle Denmark's midfield, but his tactics backfired in the seventh minute when the host nation took the lead through William Jørgensen after Finland had failed to clear a Johan Absalonsen corner. Despite their domination of possession, the score remained 1-0 at the interval.

Finland fading
Denmark continued to press for the goal that would give them breathing space and they got their reward when Rasmussen rose above his marker to head home a Niki Zimling free-kick on the hour. While that was a blow for Finland's confidence, worse was to come two minutes later as Rasmussen shook off the attentions of two defenders to drive in a clinical finish from the edge of the penalty area.

Bullet header
Rasmussen completed his hat-trick, and effectively ended the contest, with seven minutes remaining when he burst into the box, rounded the despairing Ville Liskola and tapped in from close range. If the watching fans thought that Rasmussen was finished, they were very much mistaken. Lasse Mønster Hansen broke free down the right wing three minutes from time and delivered for Rasmussen to score with a bullet header.

Delicate chip
Then, with only seconds remaining, Rasmussen raced clear and beat Liskola with a delicate chip to claim his fifth goal of a memorable match. Danish coach Hans Bruun was understandably ecstatic with the result and said: "It turned into a tense first half because we failed to take all our chances and the Finns didn't leave us much room to operate.

'Best performance'
"However, at the start of the second half I moved Caspar Lorentzen from an attacking position into midfield, which gave him much more time on the ball. At the same time Finland seemed to tire and when we got our second goal our play opened up and this was one of our best performances ever."