Denmark 0-0 Tunisia: Denmark failed to live up to its image as an underdog during the opening game of the World Cup in Doha. Last year’s European Championship semi-finalist was held scoreless by Tunisia.
Christian Eriksen returned to the starting lineup as if nothing had happened. A year and a half after the European Championship. The Danish midfielder suffered a heart attack in Denmark’s opening European Championship match last summer, but he recovered admirably and is now back in the European top flight at Manchester United. On Tuesday, he had to lead Denmark versus Tunisia, but the North Africans proved to be a difficult opponent.
Denmark enjoyed the majority of the ball during the first half, while Tunisia had the most chances. Especially forward Issam Jebali of Danish Odense BK made life difficult for national coach Kasper Hjulmand’s team. He appeared to open the scoring midway through the first half when he sped away past defender Simon Kjaer’s back. However, the goal was ruled out for offside. Kasper Schmeichel made a superb stop just before halftime to save Jebali from scoring.
Denmark 0-0 Tunisia: Skov Olsen’s disallowed goal
Denmark suffered a setback in first-half extra time when midfielder Thomas Delaney was injured, but following the break went cheerfully hunting for a gap in the Tunisian defence. Before the interval, goalie Aymen Dahmen had only witnessed some blanks come his way; after the break, he had to deal with Eriksen’s blazing shot. Andreas Skov Olsen’s goal was called back owing to offside.
Andreas Cornelius, who replaced ex-Ajacied Kasper Dolberg in the 65th minute, had a chance to score the game-winning goal. The striker couldn’t get his head around Rasmus Kristensen’s (also ex-Ajax) gamble. Which amazingly kept the ball out of the goal by the post. Dahmen saved Jesper Lindstrm from a long shot in the final phase. And also the ball did not reach the spot after reviewing the VAR photos due to claimed hands. Therefore, the score stayed 0-0.
