Denmark Team

England Team

England rounded off their Scandinavian tour with another competent, if unspectacular, win. It was not a good game and was played on a very poor pitch. England's players had to battle hard, none more so than Alan Ball whose fiery display more than once incurred the wrath of the referee was well as the crowd.

Early on England made several openings. Ball completely miskicked, and Jimmy Greaves trod on the ball when well placed. Poor Greaves, four nights earlier he had almost single-handedly destroyed Norway, but here in Denmark he hardly got a kick.

The game was very physical but England had plenty of players well equipped to meet such a challenge. Nobby Stiles, Jack Charlton and Ball were always in the thick of things and in Peter Bonetti they had a very confident goalkeeper. His one difficult save of the match from Enoksen early in the second half was outstanding and one could see why he is known as 'The Cat'.

That save protected the lead given to England by Charlton in the 43rd minute. The big centre-half came up as usual for a corner, but this time John Connelly's kick cleared even Charlton's large frame. Bit it reached Ball, who quickly lobbed it back and this time Charlton made no mistake with a firm header.

The goal prevented any embarrassment England might have felt at half-time, of being held by the amateurs of Denmark for so long. The fact was, though, that they had not been in any trouble despite their inability to score. After Bonetti's save, England consolidated their position and took a firm grip on the game. On the hour it culminated in a match-clinching second goal.

It came from George Eastham and was a carefully-placed shot between goalkeeper Nielsen and Hartwig, the full-back. There was no further scoring, although England did create several more chances without being able to finish them. Again, as in the Finland match England finished with a 'could have done better' feeling, but 11 goals for and only one against in three matches, gave them a superb platform for their next important games.
  

Goals from Jack Charlton and George Eastham gave England their sixth successive victory. Chelsea goalkeeper Peter Bonetti had his first taste of international football and performed well on a bumpy pitch that led to many errors in front of him. The amateurs of Denmark, playing for their pride, were robust with their challenges. This brought out the vicious competitive edge that lurked just below the surface with Nobby Stiles and Alan Ball, and they were both given lectures by a Canadian referee who in this day and age would have been flourishing several red cards. Greavsie, four-goal hero in the previous match, hardly got a touch of the ball in his milestone fiftieth international game.
  

On Sunday, 3 July, with but a week to the World Cup, England gained their third win of the tour. They had to work hard for their success, however, the Danes offering much stronger resistance than both Finland and Norway. Bonetti, playing in goal, won his first full International cap; he gave a competent performance. The Danish team, playing with confidence and determination, held England until the last minute of the first half. Jack Charlton, moving forward, headed home a centre from Ball on the right wing. England were playing better than in the previous games without giving an impression of being world-beaters. The second goal came from a corner-kick by Greaves. Taken very quickly, it found Eastham unmarked on the edge of the penalty-area. Eastham had 'all the time in the world' to pick his spot and made no mistake. There was a crowd of 32,000 at the match played at the Idrætsparks, Copenhagen.
  

Source Notes

TheFA.com
Original newspaper reports
Original Matchday Programme
Rothman's Yearbooks
Mike Payne's England: The Complete Post-War Record (Breedon Books Publishing Company, Derby, U.K., 1993)
Norman Giller, Football Author
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CG