Slovenia 1-1 Denmark: First surprise of EURO2024 as Eriksen’s fairytale opener cancelled out by Janža

Matjaž Kek’s Slovenia, returning to the Euros for the first time since 2000, set the cat among the pigeons in Group C today with a spirited performance to seal a deserved draw against Denmark. Christian Eriksen set the fixture off to a fairytale start in Stuttgart on Sunday evening with a stunning finish inside twenty minutes. The midfielder’s cardiac arrest on the pitch against Finland in 2021 was a sombre and shocking moment of the tournament and he made an emphatic return with his 17th-minute opener. It looked at first to be a relatively routine affair for last tournament’s semifinalists, who had an early stranglehold on possession.

However, Slovenia grew into the game and proved why they are not to be counted out of Group C. Benjamin Šeško hit the woodwork twice and Petar Stojanović had multiple chances to equalise as Denmark failed to create as much as they had in the first half. Erik Janža eventually equalised, helped by a deflection, with a little over ten minutes to go to seal an all-important point for his side.

As it happened

As one would expect with European stalwarts Denmark playing a Slovenian side that had not been to the Euros in 24 years, the former dominated possession from minute one and gave their opponents barely any opportunities to build an attack. It was to Slovenia’s credit, though, that the Danes’ early forays in Slovenia’s box were unrewarded; Jaka Bijol did well to stifle Jonas Wind’s early attempts to fire on their goal, Erik Janža put in a sliding block on Alexander Bah’s attempted cross, and the Slovenian defence appeared stoic in front of the experienced eye of Jan Oblak in net. The Danish press was energetic and high up the pitch during Slovenia’s rare spells of possession, meaning they generally ended very quickly and Kasper Hjulmand’s side enjoyed almost three-quarters of possession in the first fifteen minutes. Slovenia wasted no time whenever they enjoyed a limited spell on the ball, with Benjamin Šeško chancing a powerful strike outside the box in the sixteenth minute.

Just as Slovenia began to collect themselves, feeling they had ridden out the early siege, their careful efforts were obliterated. There was only one man scripted to open his country’s account at this tournament, and he did so in style. Christian Eriksen, who made headlines at EURO2020 for near-tragic reasons, wrote his own headline today with a brilliant finish. He chested the ball down perfectly from Wind’s exquisite flicked assist before belting it into the corner on the half volley. Denmark’s European campaign was underway exactly according to the script, leading Slovenia 1-0 after seventeen minutes.

The underdogs continued in spirited fashion, though, starting to enjoy more of the ball and winning a couple of corners in the period after they conceded. Erik Janža tried a speculative half-volley on the rebound from one but to no avail. Nothing quite fell for Matjaž Kek’s team, though they picked out several well-placed long balls to the likes of Petar Stojanović. Andraž Šporar was so nearly through on goal on the end of one, but his heavy touch took what would have been their best chance of the half away from them. Slovenia looked to strike on the break where possible too, but the Danish defence were generally able to match their attack for pace. They would squander a chance from a nicely worked corner a few minutes before halftime, with a well-executed passing routine ending in Šporar fluffing his shot (though an offside flag from the buildup spared his blushes in the end).

Denmark appeared comfortable to relinquish some of the stranglehold on possession that they had enjoyed in the first fifteen minutes. They still looked in with a chance of scoring on occasion, with Eriksen chastising himself after sending one shot well over the bar just before the break. He went into halftime the hero, with the only goal, but Slovenia were far from out of the contest.

The first big opportunities of the second half fell to the trailing side, with a couple of long throws causing issues in the Danish defence. The second, from Janža, only just escaped Stojanović and Bijol in the box ; there was a penalty check for a collision on that occasion but to no avail. Play was broken up by a yellow card apiece in the first ten minutes of the half, for Morten Hjulmand’s foul on Šeško and one for Stojanović shortly after.

The game hit something of a lull throughout the second half, with neither side looking as creative as they had towards the end of the first half. There were still a couple of scoring opportunities at either end with Oblak making a fantastic save to deny Rasmus Højlund with a little under half an hour left; minutes later, Slovenia had one of the best chances of the game when Adam Gnezda Čerin headed wide from barely six yards out.

As the minutes ticked away, Matjaž Kek looked to shake up his attack by replacing the booked Stojanović with Benjamin Verbič. His side came agonisingly close to an equaliser with just over fifteen minutes to go, when Janža curled a fantastic freekick at pace across the Danish penalty area – but Šporar failed to hit the target. Even more reinforcements arrived in the form of Jon Gorenc Stanković and Žan Celar as Kek threw everything at Denmark. Seconds later Šeško (who had been kept realtively quiet compared to what fans perhaps expected) had a second thundering attempt on goal – even closer this time, rattling the woodwork.

Slovenia’s effort finally paid off in the 77th minute: Janža, whose set pieces had looked to be a source of a potential assist just minutes ago, went one better. His half-volleyed shot from outside the box took a deflection from Hjulmand on its way in, but that should take nothing away from the finish: from outside the box, he hit it hard enough to bulge the back of the net and shock the Danish fans. With a little over ten minutes remaining, it was 1-1.

Unsurprisingly, neither side was happy with a draw – Janža continued to send the ball deep into the Danish box, with Šporar scuffing it just over bar moments after their equaliser. Jannik Vestergaard had his attempt at the other end with a header that was well held by Oblak, and was then put to the test back in his own box by Šporar once more; the attacker raced past him and it took a fingertip from Kasper Schmeichel to see his effort safely behind the goal. It was Denmark’s turn to throw their bench at the pitch, introducing Christian Nørgaard, Kasper Dolberg, and Yussuf Poulsen – a whole new cast of attackers for the Slovenian defence to contend with. The latter tried to make an instant impact with a layoff for Hjulmand, but Oblak again held fast in net.

Ultimately, nobody could make much of their opportunities in the final minutes and it ended in a deserved stalemate for a determined Slovenian team, who have proven Group C to be far more open that many bargained for.

Follow every kick of EURO2024 here on FromTheSpot, with reaction to come.

The lineups

SVN: Oblak; Karničnik, Drkušič, Bijol, Janža; Stojanović, Čerin, Elšnik, Mlakar; Šporar, Šeško.

DEN: Schmeichel; Christensen, Andersen, Vestergaard; Bah, Hjulmand, Højbjerg, Kristiansen, Eriksen; Wind, Højlund.