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Danes thrash Germany in second tri-nations match

  • Tuesday, August 07 2007 @ 05:08 pm ACST
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Europe

In the second match of the 2007 Northern European tri-nations, Denmark has thumped Germany by 174 points at Farum, 27.14.176 to 0.2.2, with the Germans unable to register a goal against their northern neighbours for the second year running. Nevertheless it was a much improved effort by Germany, who refused a Danish request that they play some Australians in order to make the game more competitive. The German team, although missing 10 of the 24 players who made up the squad that defeated Sweden in Berlin, is rated as having improved greatly this year under coach David Mudge, and should continue to make steps forward in the future.

Danish footy stalwart Ian Hill commented "Full credit to their brave decision - it will mean more short term pain but it can only be for the betterment of the German game long term. Denmark officials remembered being confronted with the same dilemma. After being thumped by Great Britain in their first ever international in 1994 with four Australians in their team, DAFL decided to exclude Australians from their national team completely, won the next five encounters and established a culture of success that persists today."

A feature of this 2007 match was that it was played in thumping rain all day and a ferocious thunder storm which even forced the players from the field at one point of the third quarter.

Despite the wet conditions, Denmark were very clean with their skills and the Germans did not adapt as well to it. Nevertheless, the Black Eagles' spirits were high and they competed well despite the flogging. Danish coach, Jim Campion, commented that he'd never seen a team NOT drop their heads so much under those circumstances - and he's seen a fair bit of one-sided footy in his years in the DAFL.

Eighteen-year-old Nicolai Secher was Denmark's best, proving to be a real headache both in the air and on the ground and was extremely versatile for such a tall yet youthful player under these conditions.

Despite the heavy loss, AFLG management are taking a positive view about the learning experience for the team, who will finish second in the tri-series unless Sweden can pull off a win over Denmark in September.

Full scores and stats can be found at the Footy Record here.