Danes an overnight sensation as Germany await in Euro last 16

BERLIN : Denmark's national team woke up to the sudden realisation that their popularity had exploded overnight, both at home and abroad, despite the scoreless draw against Serbia that saw them through to a last-16 tie against the Euro 2024 hosts Germany.

The Danish Football Association (DBU) said on Wednesday that more than 20,000 Danes had applied for some of the 600 tickets available to them for Saturday's showdown in Dortmund.

"There are far too few tickets for those who want to see us play on Saturday," lamented DBU administrative director Erik Brogger.

The Danish team returned to their base camp in Freudenstadt, several hours' drive from Munich, in the early hours of Wednesday morning, and were surprised to discover a huge upswing in the number of journalists, most of them German, at a media briefing later in the afternoon.

"It was a long trip home, but the energy is very good today. I think I closed my eyes around five o'clock, I think there was still some adrenalin in my body that just needed to get out before I could sleep," wing back Alexander Bah told reporters.

"But people are used to playing a lot of games in a short time, and I myself play every three or four days in Portugal (for Benfica) once the season starts, so it's a very natural process," he added.

Coach Kasper Hjulmand said he had no regrets about not scoring against the Serbs and winning the group.

"I would rather be happy that we have a game on Saturday against Germany where all of Denmark are in the away end, and where we feel we have a chance to win over Germany. Let's just be happy about that," Hjulmand said.