soaring denmark finish off fancied france published: sunday 5 october 2003, 15.08cet
substitute lars elstrup dealt the decisive blow as the stand-ins reached the semi-finals at les bleus' expense.
richard møller-nielsen's denmark recovered from defeat by hosts sweden to reach the euro '92 semi-finals with a win against france in the concluding round of group a games.
lars elstrup got on the end of flemming povlsen's cross from the right with 12 minutes to go as michel platini's side had the rug pulled out from under them in malmo. henrik larsen had given denmark and early lead, but jean-pierre papin's equaliser on the hour would have been enough to put them in the last four had elstrup not intervened.
france had come into the tournament with impressive write-ups, having won all eight of their qualifying games, but draws in their opening two group a fixtures belied the quality of their squad. denmark, by contrast, bore no burden of expectation, and their tenacity was evident after eight minutes as henrik andersen and povlsen fashioned an opener for larsen.
torben frank could easily have doubled denmark's advantage before france equalised from nowhere, papin hitting a smart angled shot from jean-philippe durand's back-heel. elstrup, though, was to have the final say, with france – despite the presence of the brilliant papin and the mercurial eric cantona – joining england in heading for an unexpected early exit.
