Soccer: Denmark short of tricks to capsize England

NIIGATA - Denmark may have stunned holders France, but they will have few secrets from England in tonight's second round match, according to coach Steve McClaren.

The Danish squad are packed with experience of English soccer, led by Jesper Gronkjaer (Chelsea), Thomas Gravesen (Everton), Stig Tofting (Bolton Wanderers), Thomas Sorensen (Sunderland) and Claus Jensen (Charlton Athletic).

McClaren is convinced that inside knowledge from the premier league will help England's bid for a place in the quarter-finals when the two sides meet in Niigata.

"You know the strengths and weaknesses of their individual players," the Middlesbrough manager said at England's Awaji Island base.

"Nothing really surprises you and that's the kind of element that can be your undoing.

"When you come up against the likes of Nigeria, Senegal and people like that, they can be a surprise package.

"Hopefully, there will be no surprises on Saturday evening."

England head into the match after being criticised for their performance in Wednesday's final group game, a drab 0-0 draw with Nigeria that booked their place in the last 16.

Toiling in the afternoon heat and humidity, Sven-Goran Eriksson's side frequently lost the ball, allowing their opponents plenty of possession.

But with an evening kickoff in the cooler conditions expected in northern Japan, McClaren reckons they will be able to press their opponents more than in Osaka.

"Like anything in football, it's the balance between defending and attacking," McClaren said.

"We'd all like to play a high-tempo pressing game, but I think it's the conditions that dictate.

"The main thing is being organised before you do go and press.

"You've seen that a lot of teams (in the tournament) do drop off quite a way, get organised, win the ball and then counter-attack."

McClaren is expecting the kind of tactics which England successfully employed against Argentina in their 1-0 victory in an evening kickoff at Sapporo in the group stages.

"It's very hard to judge what kind of game or tempo you're going to get beforehand," McClaren said.

"You have a game plan but sometimes that doesn't materialise. I think we're best playing at high tempo, like we did against Argentina, and using counter-attack - we've got the pace."

The Danes have their fingers crossed for goalscoring striker Jon Dahl Tomasson, who is touch and go after suffering a groin injury in Denmark's win over France this week.

The Danish striker, 25, has been the side's most potent weapon in securing their group A victory at the expense of Senegal, Uruguay and France.

Apart from scoring the 67th-minute second goal for Denmark which sent France packing for home, he converted a 16th-minute penalty on their way to a 1-1 draw with second-placed Senegal and netted twice in the opening 2-1 win over Uruguay.

The winner will face a quarter-final against, almost certainly, Brazil.

* Senegal studied their tactical options yesterday for overcoming two suspensions and the likely omission of a key defender in their knockout match against Sweden tomorrow night.

Right back Ferdinand Coly underwent further tests on his right knee and was still doubtful for the game.

Senegal's players have little knowledge of the Swedish team beyond their star player, Celtic's Henrik Larsson, and videos of their latest games.

And with several players' status uncertain for the match, coach Bruno Metsu had nothing but worries.

"We are certainly going to miss two," he said of suspended defensive midfielder Salif Diao and winger Khalilou Fadiga, who were credited by many as the driving force for the Africans in the first round.

Diao was slapped with a two-game suspension for an ugly tackle on a Danish player and Fadiga will miss out because of two yellow cards picked up in the group phase.

Diao has performed extremely well in combination with striker El Hadji Diouf, the African player of the year.

Diouf pointed out that Senegal also had to survive their decisive first-round game - a thrilling 3-3 draw with Uruguay - without Diao.

"Nobody is irreplaceable," Diouf said. "Even with the suspensions we can win."

Coly was hit on the back of his right knee during the Uruguay match and underwent a scan to make sure there was no permanent damage.

After upsetting the world and defending champions France in the cup opener, Senegal confirmed their status as one of the competition's over-achievers by qualifying for the second round.

Some of Senegal's players expect the Swedish game to be much like the draw against the Danes, a fight against a collectively cohesive block.

"Every game is a new challenge," Metsu said.

The winner will have a quarter-final clash against either Japan or Turkey.

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