Coaches comments in Danish, one of his lines is that he has picked the team based on who are the best 21 players right now, putting no weight on "old merits". Here is the link: http://www.dbu.dk/news/newsShow.aspx?id=240596 10 players from Danish Elite League top team Brondby and 5 from perennial silver medalists Fortuna, including 2 of their players, Mariann Gajhede and captain Camilla Sand who spent the fall injured. Looking forward to seeing them play!
For easy reference, here is a simplified version of their roster. I recommend, however, that interested fans go the Danish website. There are pictures of most of the players. player club team year of birth position caps/goals Heidi Elgård Johansen / Fortuna Hjørring 1983 GK 42/0 Susanne Graversen / IK Skovbakken 1984 GK 1/0 Tine Cederkvist / Brøndby IF 1979 GK 44/0 Bettina Falk Hansen / Brøndby IF 1981 D 41/0 Christina Øyangen Ørntoft / Skovlunde IF 1985 D 21/0 Dorte Dalum Jensen / Djurgården/Älvsjö 1978 D 40/1 Gitte Andersen / Brøndby IF 1977 D 72/1 Katrine S. Pedersen / Asker Skiklub 1977 D 126/4 Mia Olsen / Brøndby IF 1981 D 25/0 Line Røddik Hansen / Brøndby IF 1988 MF 10/0 Mariann Gajhede Knudsen / Fortuna Hjørring 1984 MF 34/0 Camilla Sand Andersen / Fortuna Hjørring 1986 MF 7/1 Anne Dot Eggers Nielsen / Brøndby IF 1975 MF 111/25 Cathrine Paaske Sørensen / Brøndby IF 1978 MF 77/19 Janne Madsen / Fortuna Hjørring 1978 MF 46/4 Louise Hansen / 1. FFC Frankfurt 1975 MF 97/5 Johanna M. Rasmussen / Fortuna Hjørring 1983 F 38/6 Julie Rydahl Bukh / Brøndby IF 1982 F 43/4 Maiken With Pape / Brøndby IF 1978 F 16/7 Merete Pedersen / OB 1973 F 115/53 Stine Kjær Dimun / Brøndby IF 1979 F 27/3
Dankeschön - Thanks for posting this link. Any surprises here? For all his talk about putting no weight on "old merits" (or old Meretes...?!), this list looks very familiar, with the same names that have been on Denmark's roster for years. Perhaps the coach feels somewhat defensive about the lack of fresh faces? It's a good team, though. Their leading goalscorer Merete Pedersen is back - didn't realize she's up there close to Lilly's age! I think their best player, however, is Cathrine Paaske Sørensen, a very active midfielder. Always seems involved in the play. Not tall but strong (think Catherine Reddick/Whitehill). Feisty. I remember a Matchtracker report from a couple years back - it sounded like she and Heather Mitts were starting their own little war. Another reason to regret Mitts being out of action for this Cup!
I would say that unlike a lot of the other countries (ok the North American ones like Canada/US that I follow) Denmark does have quite a bit of fresh faces coming through the roster getting their opportunity based on how their club seasons have been going. Another reason that it is a shame for there to be no league for female players in North America to improve and get their shot once they are out of college, but I digress. In regards to Denmark, I remember in particular last November when 10 of the Brondby regulars on the National team weren't available for selection and they went with a team made up mostly of players from the other Danish club teams and did surprisingly well at the Peace Queen Cup, if my memory serves me correctly. So although the final selection features alot of players who have been around for a while, I would guess that in the last year Denmark would have to be one of the countries that have given the highest number of different players caps in comparison to other countries. I think they are definitely a dark horse and do have some world class impact players- Cathrine Paaske comes to mind as well as Johanna Rasmussen, and of course Pedersen's finishing. Johansen their goalie is world class and has been the starting keeper since she was about 17, but has been hampered by injuries since. If she can stay healthy, she has the ability to be a difference maker. The one thing with Denmark that I think will be interesting and I think may play a role in how well they do is how well they adjust to the conditions in China. From what I can see they are leaving relatively late to the World Cup, in comparison to other teams. In terms of "fresh faces" or faces that I was surprised they left out- one would be Nanna Johansen. IIRC, she was a starter in Euro 2005, and a young up and coming player at that, so that's I guess a surprise. A player that's been around a while who I have been surprised not to see on rosters since this coach took over would have to be Lene Jensen. She had over 50 caps I think, maybe even 100 and did have years left in her for sure, so not sure what happened there. All in all, I think this is going to be a very exciting tournament as the list of teams that have improved and seem capable of winning it seems to be getting longer!