Game 9: Denmark vs China

A fascinating match ahead of us given the performance of Haiti against England earlier. They were outstanding and it will be interesting to see how the Danes and the Chinese look in comparison.

5 min: Pretty scrappy start here with neither side managing to get any meaningful control. If anything, China are edging this with a higher work rate that is causing the Danes to give the ball away repeatedly in dangerous areas.

8 min: Zhang Linyang profits from another misplaced pass and fires in decent effort from the edge of the box. A relatively comfortable save for Christensen. China are pressing extremely well and every time a Danish midfielder receives the ball they find themselves being harried. Fair to say they aren’t coping too well at the moment.

11 min: Linyang looking impressive – she links up well with Lou but can’t quite get the ball into the box after making a decent run down the left side. of the box. On the Danish side, their left back Veje is having a mare at the moment. Three times now she’s given the ball away under no pressure.

13 min: Another slack piece of play at the back from Denmark. This time the right back, Sevecke, is dispossessed and China win a corner. Decent delivery and its out for another corner, from the right this time. And another. The Danes clear it this time.

15 min: From the way Denmark are set up, it sems they are hoping to use Holmgaard to link play between the defense and the rest of the midfield. China are working hard to remove that option and its completely disrupting the Danish offensive structure. China are forcing the ball to the two full backs who continue to turn it over.

21 min: It’s still very disjointed. A lot of effort but not much in the way of decent football so far. Tactically it is difficult to say too much. It’s just very congested in the middle of the park. China are allowing Denmark’s defenders have the ball and then start pressing around the half way line. Every time the ball comes inside three Chinese players swarm around it and Denmark lose possession. A frustrating watch.

24 min: Going to call it now, despite what I said earlier about China edging it. Denmark will win this match. Leaving Linyang and Lou aside, I just don’t think China have any genuine quality and, eventually, Denmark will sort themselves out and start finding the likes of Harder and Thomsen.

30 min: Ooh, Thomsen gets caught on the knee on the follow through. That would have hurt. A break now and hopefully it enables the coaches to change a few things as it's not been great so far.

33 min: Nice work from Lou, three stopovers in quick succession and she floats over a cross that is easily cleared.

40 min: A highlight! If a yellow card can be considered a highlight. Linyang again slips by Sevecke who pulls her back. Deserved. And from the free kick Lining again almost profits but it doesn't quite drop for her to have a shot. She's the only player on the park who has looked even remotely dangerous so far.

43 min: Harder finally gets a chance to run into space but the ball to her is over hit. In fairness to her she manages to dig out a cross and win a corner. Denmark clearly have a plan from the set piece. Half a dozen of them pile into the six yard box and they try to profit from the congestion. Instead, they give away a free kick.

45 min: I hope there's nobody out there who are watching their first WWC match. This has been dire - the rest of the tournament has been really good. I'd be fascinated to see the distribution stats for Veje and Sevecke. Their passing has been awful.

Half Time: The less said the better frankly. Linyang the best player, probably. China have worked hard and made it difficult for Denmark but there has been very little quality on show. I've already mentioned it, but China are offering the Danes the chance to play out through the full backs but once they get it there is nothing on. Denmark need to draw the Chinese out or this is continue in the second half.

46 min: Seriously??? How does it happen yet again? a few Danish passes at the back, the ball ends with Veje, she gives it away for the umpteenth time and eventually Mengwen has a shot that is never going to bother the keeper. What were you guys doing at half time? Yeah, I'm frustrated!

49 min: yet more slack passing from the Danish and four Chinese players break before Wang Shuang forces a save. Denmark immediately break, Harder doing well to get the ball into the box before Hasbo's shot is charged down. A positively giddy 60 seconds!

51 min: Oh Hasbo. How? A free header with the goalkeeper on the floor and she totally mistimes it and it loops over the bar. Good work from Sorensen on the left wing to get it into the box and cause the initial confusion.

53 min: Denmark starting to keep possession finally, pulling the Chinese defenders out of their shape. A poor pass in the end relieves the pressure but that was better. Katherine Kuhl starting to get involved. They'll need more of that from her, and Holmgaard, in this half.

57 min: Great defending from Qiaozhu Chen. Sorensen, again, finds some space and her deep cross to the far post seems destined for Harder but Chen stretches and gets her head to it before the Chelsea striker can profit. The game is opening up thankfully.

62 min: Well, it's not going to happen for Kuhl. She's off, replaced by Lyon forward Signe Bruun. Denmark will want a win here as both England and Haiti are likely to prove tougher opposition than this committed but limited China side.

67 min: Wang Shuang has made a difference for China as an attacking proposition. That's the third time she's managed to get the ball down and create a problem for Denmark. She had a shot the first two times and this time her distribution leads to a free kick from which China win a corner. It's a good one but cleared well by the Danish defenders.

71 min: Pedersen completely misjudges a long ball forward but Linyang, for the first time in the match, is indecisive in possession and can't take advantage when it looked like she might be through.

74 min: Eeeek. A Danish free kick is swung in from the right hand side and China's Captain, Wang Shanshan, heads it back across her own goal, missing the post by about 6 inches. They always tell you to head the ball back where it came from but I wouldn't recommend it from a defensive standpoint.

77 min: Good keeping from Xu Huan. Madsen looked, for a moment, as though she had a free header but Xu managed to get a hand on the ball and it amounts to nothing. Here come China. Wang Shuang turns well on the edge of the box but the shot itself is ambitious and its a goal kick for Denmark.

80 min: That might be the chance. Bruun does really well to flick a long ball on to Harder who, for a moment, seems to be in behind the Chinese defence. In fairness to Yao she does well to get back and force Harder wide before blocking her shot. Almost immediately Denmark set up Bruun on the edge of the box but her shot is deflected wide for another Danish corner. It leads to nothing but Denmark looking more and more likely.

84 min: Pushing two up front, following the introduction of Bruun, has definitely made a difference for Denmark. The ball is sticking in the final third a bit more often and it's leading to chances.

89 min: Harder does well to win another corner and we are heading into last chance territory. It's in - 1-0 Denmark but a hint of offside perhaps? The only question is whether Sevecke or Pedersen interfered with the keeper as one or the other may have been offside. Otherwise Vaansgard is the scorer with a header from 14 yards. Given....that's likely to be the winner you'd suspect. Interesting one - Sevecke definitely interfered but Pedersen was the only one who was offside. I'm sure the Chinese will argue that Pedersen was also in Xu's eye line but you could argue both sides. On balance, feels like the right decision and Denmark probably deserve to win.

FULL TIME: A 1-0 win to Denmark in a pretty disappointing match. I suspect Denmark can improve but I'm not sure we can say the same about the Chinese. The latter set out to frustrate the Danes and, for the most part, they succeeded. However, they really lack an attaching threat aside from Linyang but even she drifted out of the match in the second half. They don't strike me as a side who have another way of playing.

Denmark, for their part, weren't remotely cohesive in terms of their passing but they have enough technically proficient players to suggest they can be more of a threat in their next two matches. I wouldn't be particularly worried if I was England and Haiti will have watched that with growing optimism about their chances of progressing.

WOTM is really tough as nobody stood out. I'll give it Simone Boye, who marshalled the Danish defence well all day and didn't give the ball away nearly as much as most of her team mates.

Take care and see you tomorrow for a showdown between Portugal and the Netherlands.