Having cruised to a comfortable victory against Panama last time out, Jorge Vilda’s Spanish side travelled to Denmark on Wednesday for yet another friendly ahead of the World Cup. Vilda made plenty of changes to the side that scored seven in Áviles, with Aitana Bonmatí notably featuring in the starting eleven.
DEN: Christensen; Svava, Gevitz, Ballisager, Sevecke; Kühl, Holmgaard, Hasbo; Sørensen, Harder, Thomsen
ESP: Misa; Carmona, Andrés, Codina, Batlle; Putellas, Abelleira, Bonmatí; Caldentey, Hermoso, Paralluelo
Spain took the lead within the opening ten minutes, as Jorge Vilda’s dream preparations for the FIFA Women’s World Cup continue. Curling an effort in from the edge of the box, Ona Batlle was able to evade the Danish ‘keeper to pick out the far bottom corner – and la Roja were ahead once more.
Sørensen looked to level the match for Denmark soon after, but she’d been forced wide in her efforts to run onto a cross-field pass – and her tame effort didn’t cause problems for Misa between the Spanish sticks.
The forward was involved once again mere moments later, soaring down the left flank before pinging a cross towards Janni Thomsen. She was closely marked though, ultimately allowing Ivana Ándres to hoof the ball out of play and ease the pressure on the Spanish backline.
Throughout the opening half-hour of the match, both sides demonstrated their attacking prowess – though it was the Spaniards that seemed to have the upper hand, with Alexia Putellas striking the upright in the 31st minute as la Roja came painstakingly close to extending their advantage.
But the pressure was largely piled on by the hosts, as Pernille Harder looked to head home from a free-kick delivery from deep. The ex-Chelsea star’s attempt was a little underpowered though, allowing Alexia Putellas to boot it clear before Sevecke could arrive on scene to smash it over the line.
Less than ten minutes after play resumed for the second half, Barcelona’s Salma Paralleulo was able to add to the Spanish advantage. A long ball over the top picked out Jenni Hermoso, who played in the winger with a well-placed pass – allowing her to simply slot the ball across the face of goal and over the line.
Spain could quite easily have had three or four throughout this match, but Jorge Vilda’s side seemed to lack ruthlessness in front of goal – as demonstrated by Abelleira’s high effort and del Castillo’s strike that was only able to find the post after a defensive effort gave the substitute an opportunity to score.
Regardless, the win is nothing less than more positive reinforcement for this Spanish side – who will undoubtedly use the lessons learned from this match to improve further. They’ll return to action on July 14, as they face Vietnam.
DISCLAIMER: The images used within this article are not from Denmark v Spain. No images from the game have been made publicly available at the time of publishing.
FromTheSpot will be bringing you coverage of every game throughout the FIFA Women’s World Cup, including previews and detailed reports. We’ll cover games in the buildup to the tournament too, so you can get a feel for the potential favourites ahead of action getting underway in Australia and New Zealand.
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