Keeper paves way for Danish triumph

A superb display of goalkeeping from Susanne Graversen Boel enabled Denmark to record a 3-0 UEFA Women’s Under-19 Championship victory over a gallant Switzerland side at the Julivallen stadium in Höganäs.

Series of fine stops
With Denmark leading 1-0 through substitute Marie Stentoft Herping, Graversen Boel produced a series of fine stops, four coming within the space of two second-half minutes, to provide the platform for a victory sealed with further strikes from Mariann Knudsen Gajhede and Stentoft Herping again. Denmark coach Per Rud spoke of "revenge" after the game, which followed his side's 1-0 defeat by the Swiss a fortnight ago.

Worthy replacement
The game got off to an inauspicious start for the Danes when striker Louise Svennesen limped off in the first minute and was replaced by Stentoft Herping three minutes later after failing to respond to treatment. The substitute proved a worthy replacement as she opened her account in the 19th minute. Cecilie Pedersen showed lovely footwork to slip past Isabella Osterwalder before feeding Stentoft Herping whose first time shot looped off a Swiss defender, over goalkeeper Janine Chamot and into the corner of the net.

Great chance
The goalscorer fired a great chance to double her side's advantage over the bar in the 22nd minute when Chamot could only parry the ball into her path after being challenged by two Danish players. The Swiss had by this stage began dominating the game, their central midfield being occupied by two wonderfully controlled players, and Osterwalder looked the player most likely to breach a resolute Danish defence.

Off the bar
In the 28th minute only a save at full stretch prevented her from scoring the goal of the tournament so far with a 35-metre thunderbolt and three minutes later she looked on as a powerful header whizzed past Graversen Boel's right-hand post. Four minutes before the break she beat the Denmark keeper but the ball cannoned behind off the bar following a fierce, dipping drive.

Injured players
Denmark's cause was not helped by an injury to Kristina Boldt who went to ground after taking a free-kick in the final minute of the half and had to be carried off on a stretcher. Rud revealed that she and Svennesen are unlikely to play again in this competition. Switzerland also lost a key player to injury, Osterwalder, and she could also sit out her side's remaining games.

Top-drawer stops
Graversen Boel excelled herself just after the hour with save after save out of the top drawer. Sylvia Hügli, Selina Zumbühl and Nicole Gassmann, with the best stop of the match from point-blank range, were all denied before the keeper further frustrated the Swiss by gathering Valentina Matasci's fierce low effort.

Flattering victory
Knudsen Gajhede rubbed salt into Swiss wounds by adding a second goal on the counterattack with a cool finish from close range in the 67th minute after a flick-on from Stentoft Herping. Provider turned scorer eight minutes later when Stentoft Herping played a neat one-two with Johanna Rasmussen and smashed the ball in to seal a flattering 3-0 victory.

Swiss nemesis
Swiss nemesis Graversen Boel felt her team had to dig deep for victory. "It was a nice game to win," she said. "We lost two key players but we kept fighting and knew if we did we could win the game. We stuck together and got the result we wanted, although both teams played at a technically very high level."

‘Positive surprise’
Her coach admitted to be surprised by the result, "but in a positive way", while Béatrice Von Siebenthal, the Switzerland coach, also felt the victors had been fortunate to register a 3-0 success. "It is true that the scoreline flattered Denmark but we had a number of chances to score and it is the result what counts," she said. "We are the youngest team here and played well but we lost the game when the second goal went in. We must forget this and look forward to the next game."