Northern Ireland boss Michael O’Neill is expecting Denmark to be on the front foot when the teams meet in Copenhagen tonight.
The two countries are due to face each other in an international challenge match in the Parken Stadium and O’Neill believes the Danes will want to put on a show.
He said that younger and new members of the Danish squad will be eager to impress head coach Brian Reimer, who took on the role at the end of October. This will be the former Anderlecht manager’s fifth game in charge.
At a press conference in the Parken Stadium yesterday the Northern Ireland senior men’s team manager said: “Any nation when they play at home want to put on a show. You can see in the squad that Denmark have picked they are obviously taking the game very seriously.
“They have players that play in the top leagues and players who are trying to establish themselves in this squad. They will be keen to show they are ready to start big games.”
And he added: “This is as tough a test as we can expect to get.”
Tonight’s game and a friendly against Iceland next week will help with preparations for Northern Ireland’s FIFA World Cup 2026 qualifiers against Germany, Slovakia and Luxembourg this autumn.
O’Neill further revealed: “I felt this game was as close as we could get to possibly playing Germany in September away. That game is in Cologne which is a very similar stadium so it will give us the best preparation possible.”
Sunderland defender Trai Hume will captain Northern Ireland tonight (6 o’clock kick-off BST) and he will also wear the armband in the second June friendly against Iceland in Belfast on Tuesday.
The only player from the original 26-man squad not available for selection is Paddy McNair, who picked up a groin injury in training this week and has returned to America for treatment at his club, MLS newcomers San Diego FC.
Northern Ireland trained in Marbella for four days prior to jetting in to Copenhagen on Thursday to continue preparations for tonight’s game. They trained at the Parken yesterday.
O’Neill said he was pleased with the camp in Spain. He pointed out the players had worked hard as they continued to gel as a squad.
The Denmark panel is filled with players who operate in Europe’s top leagues, including several familiar faces from the Premier League in England.
Manchester United midfielder Christian Eriksen, Manchester United defender Patrick Dorgu and Manchester United forward Rasmus Hojland plus Brentford midfielders Christian Norgaard and Mikel Damsgaard, Fulham defender Joachim Andersen and Leicester City defender Jannik Vestergaard are among them.
Celtic goalkeeper Kasper Schmeichel, once of Leicester City, is in the Danish squad as well alongside Marseille midfielder Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg, who made the switch to France last summer from Tottenham Hotspur.
And the Denmark defence features two Bundesliga stars in Joakim Maehle (VfL Wolfsburg) and Rasmus Kristensen (Eintracht Frankfurt).
Eriksen (33), Schmeichel (38) and Hojberg (29) are the elder statesmen of the Danish squad having earned 142, 113 and 86 caps respectively.
In their frontline the most experienced operator is Kasper Dolberg. The 27-year-old Anderlecht striker has scored 11 goals for his country and earned 54 caps. Hojlund, who is 22, is the only other attacker with more than 10 caps. The Manchester United forward has netted eight times in 24 appearances for Denmark.
At the Parken
