Denmark hand England biggest loss in 25 yearsWed Aug 17, 2005 10:41 PM BST
Reuters
By Trevor Huggins
COPENHAGEN (Reuters) - Denmark inflicted England's biggest defeat for 25 years in a 4-1 friendly romp before a delirious Parken Stadium crowd on Wednesday.
Substitute Dennis Rommedahl began a three-goal blitz in the space of seven minutes with a simple tap-in on the hour mark, following a rash sortie by substitute keeper David James.
Rommedahl then set up the second for captain Jon Dahl Tomasson in the 63rd minute and substitute Michael Gravgaard was credited with the third in a goalmouth melee following a corner.
Wayne Rooney, England's best player and who had a goal disallowed and a penalty appeal turned down in the first half, scored an 87th minute consolation goal before Soren Larsen rounded off the scoring for the Danes.
"The second half was a disaster for us," England coach Sven-Goran Eriksson told SkySports.
"For 30 or 40 minutes we didn't do anything right. If we play football like that we can forget the World Cup."
It was Denmark's first home win over England since the two sides first met in 1948 and only their third victory in 17 meetings.
For the visitors, it was their worst defeat since going down 4-1 to Wales in Wrexham in May 1980.
Both sides were playing before World Cup qualifying resumes next month, with England's first half passing and second half defending certain to come under the microscope.
Eriksson's side were not helped by a rash of substitutions at the break, notably James, after England and Tottenham Hotspur doctors had agreed beforehand that Paul Robinson would only play the first half.
James began the rot by rushing out to challenge Tomasson, who managed to get clear and wriggle past a tough challenge from Ashley Cole to cross the ball for a tap-in.
Rommedahl reciprocated with a reflex header to an attempted England clearance, setting up Tomasson to simply scoop the ball past James from point blank range.
A downward header beat the hapless England keeper four minutes later, before Rooney latched on to a long ball from captain David Beckham and steered a shot past Thomas Sorensen.
But the rickety England defending was exposed once again at the very end as Eriksson's much-vaunted rearguard was caught flat-footed by a defence splitting pass and Larsen poked the ball into the far corner.
The scale of the defeat was not what Eriksson needed as they prepared for 2006 qualifying.
England are two points behind group leaders Poland, who have played a game more, and face a double header away to the Welsh and Northern Ireland. The Danes are struggling in fourth place in Group Two before games in Turkey and at home to Georgia.
