Copenhagen, May 28 (DPA) Danish coach Morten Olsen Friday dropped four players from his provisional roster hours before his 23-strong World Cup squad were set to fly out to South Africa.
Olsen told reporters that his job was to select the best squad for the World Cup and was confident he had done so, but added that dropping the players ‘was one of the toughest decisions he had made.’
Goalkeeper Kim Christensen of IFK Goteborg, Utrecht’s all-round player Michael Silberbauer and forwards Mikkel Thygesen of Midtjylland and Morten Rasmussen of Celtic were off the roster.
The selection was announced the day after Denmark defeated Senegal 2-0 in a friendly at Aalborg.
Palermo defender Simon Kjaer, 21, who was stretchered off from the pitch in the 82nd minute, was in the final squad but did not take part in Friday’s final training session in Denmark.
Kjaer was to undergo tests during the coming week to determine what sort of injury he had. Initial results suggested he had hurt a ligament on the inside of his right knee.
Other players recovering from injuries are Stoke City goalkeeper Thomas Sorensen and Arsenal’s Nicklas Bendtner, and Olsen conceded he was ‘concerned’ over the injury situation.
Senegal was selected as an opponent since their style of football is similar to that of Cameroon, which Denmark faces along with powerhouse Holland and Japan in the initial group matches at the World Cup.
The squad: Jesper Christiansen (FC Copenhagen), Stephan Andersen (Brondby IF), Thomas Sorensen (Stoke City), Daniel Agger (Liverpool), Lars Jacobsen (Blackburn Rovers), Patrick Mtiliga (Malaga), Per Kroldrup (Fiorentina), Simon Poulsen (AZ Alkmaar), Simon Kjaer (Palermo), William Jorgensen (FC Copenhagen), Christian Poulsen (Juventus), Christian D Eriksen (Ajax), Daniel Jensen (Werder Bremen), Jakob Poulsen (Arhus), Mikkel Beckmann (Randers), Thomas Enevoldsen
(Groningen), Thomas Kahlenberg (Wolfsburg), Dennis Rommedahl (Ajax), Jesper Gronkjaer (FC Copenhagen), Jon Dahl Tomasson (Feyenoord), Martin Jorgensen (Arhus), Nicklas Bendtner (Arsenal), Soren Larsen (Duisburg).
