Denmark have surprisingly booked their ticket for the quarter-final of the U21 Euros after impressive wins against Ukraine and Holland in the group phase, and French coach Gerard Baticle says that the French favourites should be wary of the threat posed by the potent Danish attack ahead of the quarter-final in Presov.
“They have good individuals in attack, including a striker (Osula) who has already scored three goals. But also good players in midfield and at the back. They are also a compact team, with well-rehearsed patterns of play," says Baticle, according to UEFA.com.
Baticle also underlines that the Danes' ability to give lots of players a chance to shine at the tournament will have provided Steffen Hoyer with ideal conditions for picking his ideal formation for the match against France.
"They are a team that looks very dangerous offensively. They are a big team. They are the only team who won their first two games in their group, which allowed them to approach the third match with a lot of confidence, and to be able to rotate in large numbers."
France head into the match with plenty of confidence following their emphatic 4-1 win against Poland in the final group match. Baticle's side have underlined their strength in numbers with six different players scoring their seven goals, and they are the only team in the tournament with no less than 24 shots on target during the first three group matches.
“We’ve prepared for this match in several ways. First of all, we savoured having achieved the primary objective, which was to get out of the group. Then, we focused on recovery. And now, we are turning our attention to our opponents, as we do for every match.”
Newcastle's William Osula (three) and Sporting Lisbon's Conrad Harder (two) have together scored the majority of the Danish goals in the tournament but Danish coach Steffen Hoyer has not yet taken a decision whether he will field both at the same time tonight.
"I am looking at whether we have to play with both of them at once, and how it will connect with the rest of the team when we now have to face even stronger opposition. There is a lot of focus on who starts a football match, but it is also important who is in at the end when things are decided. It is even more important in a quarter-final that can go into extra time and penalties."