Peru unlucky to come away with defeat against gritty Denmark
Peru’s return to the World Cup after a 36-year hiatus ended in despondency as they fell to a resilient Denmark in a narrow 1-0 defeat.
Christian Eriksen’s pinpoint through ball found Yussuf Poulsen, whose clinical finish evaded Peru stopper Pedro Gallese and found the bottom corner.
Inside the Peruvian-dominated stadium in Saransk, the wait for World Cup football finally came to an end.
Peru’s performance somewhat failed to reflect the result, as their endeavour and attacking flair was there for all to see.
The pragmatism of Denmark won out on this occasion, though, and their attritional style ensured the South Americans never penetrated.
A noticeable height difference between the two sides meant Peru were never likely to trouble from set pieces. Instead, through wide men Andre Carrillo and Edison Flores, the latter plying his trade in Denmark, the Peruvians looked fearsome from the wings.
Carrillo’s early tester forced Kasper Schmeichel into a decent save. And Flores responded almost immediately to Denmark’s opener, but once again the Leicester stopper thrusted out a strong hand to deny him.
The pivotal moment came on the cusp of half time. Midfielder Christian Cueva, in many ways Peru’s stand-out man, lived to regret a dreadful penalty miss.
He twisted and turned inside the box, leaving eventual winner Poulsen tangled and a clumsy challenge hauled Cueva to the floor. Originally Gambian referee Bakary Gassama allowed play to go on, but after a VAR review the spot kick was awarded.
Cueva stepped up to take it himself, but he probably wished he hadn’t. A terrible effort flew some distance over the crossbar.
Everything but the result for Peru
As far as the display goes, Peru manager Ricardo Gareca can have few complaints.
La Blanquirroja made their intentions clear from the very first whistle as they bombed forward with pace and intent, but the clinical edge never arrived.
Chances in both halves came and went. Jefferson Farfan’s scuffed strike was kicked away by Schmeichel, in Peru’s best opportunity.
Although they lost, #PER made a statement to the world that they can play beautiful football. They have all the weight on them now, but that was an exciting display.#DEN didn’t play too well, but it was great to see play running through Eriksen. #WorldCup
— Playing For 90 (@PlayingFor90) June 16, 2018
Peru’s riveting style of play made it easy to warm to them, and their agonising emotion was felt inside a sell-out stadium, the majority of which were Peru supporters.
They have the daunting task of France coming up, hence why getting any sort of tangible reward here was essential.
It didn’t happen, and for all of their impressive play Peru now face an uphill task if their journey is to continue.
Denmark do the job
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In by no means an attractive fashion, the Danes clinched the three points.
The World Cup is purely about results, ultimately, which is why Denmark deserve plaudits for a gritty, unwaveringly strong performance.
Never inclined to open the game up, Denmark remained stubborn and were patient for the one opportunity early in the second half.
That chance came when Eriksen was given far too much room in the centre. He threaded a fine ball through to Poulsen who did the rest.
The Tottenham man could have sealed the result late on, however arrowed a shot into the shoulder of Gallese.
Next: Three World Cup players born outside the country they are representing
Denmark can perhaps unleash more attacking quality against Australia. This strategy was effective, though, so why would they change?