Emil Nielsen leads the winning Danish red wave

But these hopes, sadly, did not survive the red fury for long. After seven minutes, Denmark were already ahead by three, with Emil Nielsen making important saves in the first minutes. As Simon Pytlick piled up goals — five in the first half alone — Denmark increased their advantage to a maximum of four goals, but only two at the break.

The second half was more one-sided, even though Spain levelled things early. But as Nielsen made more important saves between the posts and Emil Jakobsen was clinical on fast breaks, Denmark increased their advantage to eight goals, before celebrating yet another victory in front of their fans in a sold-out Jyske Bank Boxen.

GROUP I

Spain vs Denmark 31:36 (14:16)

H2H: 8-1-20
Top scorers: Marcos Fis 9/11 (ESP); Emil Jakobsen 8/9 (DEN)
Goalkeepers: Sergey Hernandez 7/36, Ignacio Biosca 0/6 (ESP) ; Emil Nielsen 14/43, Kevin Møller 0/1 (DEN)
POTM presented by Grundfos: Emil Nielsen (DEN)

• two players were mainly in the spotlight in the first half: Emil Nielsen, who made seven saves including one penalty, in the first quarter, and Simon Pytlick, who scored four times
• once Denmark had taken the lead, Spain increased their resistance, with Imanol Garciandia scoring four in the first half, to remain within two at the break
• Spain even levelled the score four minutes after the restart, before taking five goals in a row
• Emil Nielsen stole the momentum almost all by himself, making five saves in a row to put his team ahead by six at the 42nd minute and forcing Spain to take a timeout
• this break did not stop Denmark’s progression, as their advantage peaked at eight goals at minute 49 when Mathias Gidsel scored his third personal goal
• Denmark’s Emil Nielsen was elected Player of the Match, after making 14 saves
• Denmark are now top of the group, with six points, while Spain remain with zero and might be out of the semi-finals race, depending on the result of the game between Germany and Norway

When Mathias Gidsel is quiet, Emil Nielsen makes a noise

The last successes of the Danish national team were often linked with Mathias Gidsel’s performances. The right back is often considered as the best player in the world and might have the biggest playing time of the tournament, but on Saturday against Spain, he only delivered an average performance.

“Average” is not a word that can be used to describe Emil Nielsen’s performance. The Barça goalkeeper started the game with three saves, but his influence was much more crucial in the heart of the second half. Jan Gurri, Abel Serdio, Alex Dujshebaev, all stopped scoring for 10 minutes while Nielsen was locking the door to his goal. He might “only” have had 14 saves, but his 33 per cent efficiency rate was more than enough to earn him the Player of the Match award.

Photos © kolektiff images