Denmark Can Achieve Great Things At The World Cup - Morten Olsen

Denmark defied the pre-qualifying predictions and beat teams such as Sweden and Portugal to first spot in their World Cup qualifying group. The Scandinavians will be competing at their fourth World Cup next summer and they will be hoping to emulate their previous best performance at the event - a quarter-final appearance in 1998.

"It was very important for us to qualify again. We didn't make it to the last World Cup. In a very tough qualifying group where Portugal were the clear favourites, we managed to win the group with a game to spare. This was a an outstanding achievement," head coach Morten Olsen said to fifa.com.

"We had our share of luck in some of the games, every team needs that. But we were also very unlucky with injuries. We were forced to field different teams in every game and we still managed to get the job done. Considering this, it was a tremendous feat to qualify.

"Every edition of the World Cup is special with its own magic and unique atmosphere. It's fantastic that the tournament is being held in Africa for the first time so that the people there can really experience it up-close.

"We have to ensure we have our best players in South Africa and that we're in good shape when we get there. If we manage that, we'll have a strong team. Then, we'll see who we get in our group. Denmark will not be one of the favourites but if we have our best players available, which wasn't the case in the qualification phase, we can achieve a lot."